And Life Goes On
by LoVeDoNtHaTe
Summary: Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny have been settling into their post-war lives for three years now. Then Harry does the unthinkable; he brings Draco Malfoy into the picture. And why is everyone so accepting of him? Hermione doesn't get it. Dramione R&R.
1. The Curious Meeting

_ "This is your last chance," she said angrily. _

_ "Yeah? There was no chance for us. We should've known better." _

_She scoffed. "This is the coward's way out." _

"_Then don't take it. But its better this way. We'll be able to get back to our normal lives," he replied. His back was to her, cradling the potion close to him. _

_ "You're a despicable coward," she spat. _

_ "All the more reason to take it." _

_ She clenched her teeth and looked down at the nearly black potion. "You made it correctly?" _

_ "You're the one who gave me the recipe. Of course I made it correctly. Don't you trust me?" _

_ "Of course not." _

_ He was silent, then turned to her and raised his vial. "Cheers," he said, and knocked it back in one gulp. _

_ She watched him, looked back down at her vial, and glared. _

_He deserves what he gets, she thought angrily. She drank the contents of the vial, feeling her brain throb as she began to edge into darkness. She sank to her knees. _

Hermione smiled. It was a beautiful day outside. Spring had sprung, and everything was in bloom. She had been a little depressed since she had broken up with Ron a couple weeks ago, but she hoped dearly that they would be together again soon. After all, this wasn't the first time they'd broken up. Hermione arrived at work five minutes early as always. Her brown mane was perfectly combed and she held her bag in her arm. She was a meticulous witch and didn't like too much change once she was settled into her surroundings. After living on the edge with Harry and Ron for her school days, it was time to live comfortably and safely. Perhaps that was why she and Ron couldn't stay together. He wanted more adventure and she didn't.

"Good morning, Miss Granger," her secretary greeted her as they entered the lift.

"Morning, Genna. What's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, let me take a look." Genna sifted through the pile of folders she carried, making sure not a single paper fell. That was one of the biggest reasons Hermione had hired her. She was just as meticulous as herself.

"You have a meeting with the department heads today to go over the quota and another meeting to talk about budgets with the Minister later on."

"Sounds like an eventful day," Hermione commented. As the head of her division, the division of Improper Use of Magic, she had to talk with Harry a lot, the head of the Auror department, and accompany him to meetings with the Minister. Her other best friend, Ron, was the head of Magical Law Enforcement, and the three saw each other at work everyday. Working with her best mates made her feel right at home and they all enjoyed their jobs. Harry loved the action his job occasionally brought and Ron loved having the authority to tell the Law Enforcement what to do. Hermione couldn't be happier at a desk job. It was what she had wanted after war. No drama.

Harry met her right when she got out of the lift. Genna scurried off to Hermione's office, where she would put down the folders her boss had to look at. Hermione greeted him warmly.

"Hello, Harry! How are you?"

"Great. I hired someone to work in the Auror department."

"That's great! Anyone we know?"

Harry was silent for a moment. "You'll never guess."

"Um, Terry Boot? Michael Corner? Cormac McLaggen?" She grinned. "Ernie?"

"Nope. He was a Slytherin."

Hermione frowned. "A Slytherin?"

"Yes."

There was no way Draco Malfoy could have been an Auror. "Theodore Nott? Uh, Zabini?"

"No. He bothered us a hell of a lot in school."

Hermione's mouth dropped open and she stopped in her tracks. "No!"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"Harry!" She pulled him aside, her hands gripping his robes furiously. "How could you hire someone like him? He was a blooming Death eater during the war! He's dangerous!"

"Hermione, calm down," Harry said, pulling her hands away. "He's really changed, and his résumé was as good as anyone's right out of war."

"Not anyone's! He was a Death eater."

"I've got to give him a chance. His mother gave me a chance at life, so I owe her family something."

"Well, then give her something, not her son."

"Hermione, you're going to have to come to terms with this, no matter what."

"At least I'm not going to have to work with him, right? I don't think I could stand one of his Mudblood cracks."

"He's not going to make any if I can help it. I warned him beforehand too. You may see him around, but you won't work with him."

"Thank goodness." Hermione sighed. "It's difficult always being a forgiving person, you know."

"Don't I?" He smiled and kissed her cheek. "Come on, let's get to work then, eh?"

"Good idea." Hermione smiled and waved. "I'll see you for lunch, Harry."

Hermione ran into the new employee rather quickly; much quicker than she would have liked.

When she saw him, she knew she had to practise being cordial for Harry's sake. "Hello Malfoy," she said with a nod.

He seemed very surprised that she was speaking to him. "Granger," he replied in greeting. They passed each other, and Hermione was content with that. She didn't really want to spend more time than necessary speaking to him, though he seemed nice enough. More humble, maybe. But who knew if he really was?

She greeted her secretary again, who handed her a stack of memos and mail, and Hermione entered her neat office. It was an average size, with a window, something that she had desperately wanted. Desk jobs weren't exactly fun in a cubicle, especially for the head.

Hermione went through her mail, threw some rubbish mail away, pinned some memos to her corkboard for reminders, and then tossed the O.K.-lot into her top desk drawer. She sat down and sighed, a little smile coming to her face. She loved her job, and her desk, and the room, and all the paperwork sitting right in front of her. Everything was just lovely today. Then Malfoy came in.

"Hey Hermione," called the perpetrator, shoving Malfoy in front of him. "Draco and I are doing rounds to all the offices."

Hermione was a little surprised, though she'd expected it. Harry always did rounds with the new staff. "We know each other already, though," she said.

"That's what I said," Draco said, turning back to look at his new employer.

"Not currently, you don't. You only know each other by name." Harry smiled and clapped Draco on the back. He looked entirely too cheerful about this. "He's training under me right now."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed, then tried to contain her surprise. "Oh."

"Don't sound so surprised, Granger," Draco said, a slight coldness in his tone.

"It's nothing new, 'Mione," Harry said lightly, trying to keep the situation light. "But we'll be off now." He smiled and pushed Draco out, who seemed more than happy to comply.

"Harry, can I talk to you for a moment?" she called, and Draco scowled.

"Go ahead, talk about me, I don't mind," he said sarcastically.

"Don't be so full of yourself," Hermione retorted, and pulled Harry into her office and shut the door. "Harry, why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"I mean why did you hire him?"

"I told you—"

"Yes, but still. There's got to be another reason."

"No, 'Mione."

Hermione stared at his unblinking face. "No revenge, no wanting to ruin his career forever?"

Harry shook his head, amused at her incredulity.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly. He'd been turned down for a number of other jobs because of his reformed Death eater status, and his mother contacted me and he came in. Looked at his credentials, and he's fit, in my standards anyway. He finished school, did well on his N.E.W.T.s, he's a hard worker, and he had a great recommendation."

"Who in their right mind would recommend him?"

"Someone anonymous. But besides that, he's changed. I could gather that much from his interview."

Hermione sighed. "If you're sure, I'm going to have to trust your judgment."

"Well, thank you, Hermione," Harry said, slightly sarcastic. "Just cool off. I'll be fine. I can handle it." He grinned and she smiled and tousled his hair slightly.

"How could I forget? You're Harry Potter," she said endearingly, and he smirked and went out the door.

"Mate," she heard him say to Malfoy, "let's go visit the Minister now, shall we?"

"Sure."

And their footsteps echoed down the corridor, the sound receding as they disappeared into the lift. Hermione sighed heavily. At least she wouldn't have to work with him on a daily basis.

_She saw his chest moving up and down faster than normal. He was usually good at keeping up a façade, but it was failing him right now. _

_ "What's wrong?" she asked, going to him. _

_ He looked at her. "I have to tell you something I've been meaning to tell you for weeks." _

_ "What?" _

_ He took a deep breath. "Now don't kill me or jump to conclusions, okay?" _

_ She frowned. "Okay." _

_ "Remember that party I told you about a week ago?" _

_ "Yes. The one you didn't invite me to." _

_ "Well, I didn't tell you the whole story." _

_ Five minutes later and she was throwing things at his head. "I can't fucking believe you! How could you do such a thing?" A heel went flying. _

_ "I told you not to jump to conclusions! It was only a one-night thing. I've never even spoken to her again!" _

_ "That doesn't make the fact that you shagged her any better! Not even the fact that you were bloody drunk! That's why you were so weird that one night, wasn't it? Saying you loved me when you didn't even mean it! It was, wasn't it?" A coffee mug smashed against the wall. "Where's my wand?" She stormed towards her room, and he quickly blocked her. She couldn't even bear to touch him, so she backed away to the kitchen, where she broke down into sobs. _

_ "I do love you! I'm so sorry. I never meant for it to happen," he said softly. _

_ "That's what they all say." _

_ "I swear I didn't! We were just talking, and then all of a sudden we were kissing and then, I don't know—"_

_ "God, shut up! I don't want to hear any of this! Get out!" _

_ "It's not like I'm the only one who's done this," he snarled, finally snapping. _

_ "What the hell are you talking about?" _

_ "Don't you dare give me that. You snogged that bloody dolt!" _

_ Her incredulous face came on. "What?" she exclaimed in angry disbelief. "How could you accuse me of such a thing?" _

_ "Because I fucking saw you!" _

_ She crossed her arms. "And where, exactly, did you 'see' me?" _

_ He clenched his jaw before answering. "In a pub. Were you so stupid that you didn't think I'd be going to that same pub later that night?" _

_ Her face drained of colour, but she stood her ground. "You go to a different bloody pub every single night and get drunk! How many girls have you slept with then, hmm?" _

"_Don't try and change the subject! You were snogging him in public!" _

_Her face reddened. "At least I didn't sleep with him." _

_ "Oh, like swapping spit with him is much better!" _

_ "It was a mistake!" _

_ "You could've told me about it! I love you. I would have forgiven you without a second thought if you had promised me never to do it again. But you didn't even fucking tell me about it, and it's been weeks!" _

_ "I never would have done it if you could've paid more attention to me!" _

_ "Oh, so now it's my fault? I pay all the attention I can to you!" _

_ "Don't give me that shit! You go to a pub every night and get smashed and don't contact me anymore." _

_ "So you go around snogging boys to make up for it then, huh?" _

_ Her glare was deadly. "As much as you go around shagging girls to make up for all the time you spend away from me." _

_ He sneered. "Shut the fuck up. You don't know what you're talking about." _

_ "That's how you get people to be with you, isn't it? You have to get them to look past all that they know about you already, so you get them drunk and take advantage of them!" _

_ His jaw dropped. Did she really just say that? His blood was boiling, and he snatched up his coat and pulled on his shoes. _

_ "Oh my God. I can't believe I just said that. I didn't mean it, honestly." _

_ "Like hell you didn't mean it. This is fucking over." _

_ "No, I didn't mean it, really! I was just angry—"_

_ "We all get angry, but not all of us become that much of a bitch! I guess I should've seen it coming." _

_ She stopped and watched him leave. "Fine then! Leave, damnit! It's not like we weren't heading down this road anyway!" He slammed the door loudly, and she broke down into angry tears. _

Harry came calling again later for lunch, and Hermione was glad for the break, especially when she saw Ron's face again. "Hi guys," she said with a smile.

"Hey 'ermione," Ron said, smiling himself.

"Get a bloody room," Draco replied, and both turned to see Harry letting Malfoy into her office.

"What's he doing here?" Hermione asked indignantly.

"I invited him. I told you I'm showing him around. And he can't exactly eat lunch by himself."

"And why not?" was on Hermione's tongue, but she fought it down. She didn't want to be rude. After all, this was all about giving everyone second chances. Even if it was a Malfoy.

"Feel free to join us," Hermione said, giving Harry a "we'll-talk-later" look.

Draco looked a little surprised at her quick admission. "Thanks."

Ron surprisingly didn't say anything, but instead led the way to the Ministry's small diner.

They sat down, Ron and Hermione sitting together quickly on one side so Harry would have to sit by their unwanted guest. Harry gave them a look that clearly read "be friendly." Hermione, who was sitting across from the fair-haired bloke, sighed.

"Malfoy, what have you been doing since the trial?"

"Studied, looked for jobs," he replied cordially. "Most everyone was unwilling to hire me because of my status, and I was immediately 'made redundant'," he used air-quotes, "at other shitty jobs I was hired at."

"That sounds like a waste of time," Hermione said, frowning, "on the company's part."

Draco just nodded. "Well, it was all fruitless till Potter here hired me." He cast a glance at his former school rival.

"It's a damn good thing we put those times behind us then, isn't it?" Harry asked, with a friendly smile. He had that look of superiority but a willingness to forgive, and Hermione knew that no one could _not_ respect the great Harry Potter, even Draco Malfoy himself.

"Yes, it is." Draco seemed uncomfortable with them all, and Hermione nudged Ron.

"Ow," he replied loudly to her subtle hint, and Hermione shot him a look. He glared back and rubbed his arm. "What?"

Hermione turned away. "Nothing." Honestly. Sometimes he was a complete dolt. "What made you want to become an Auror?"

Draco shrugged.

"The same reason they wanted to be," Draco said, gesturing with his head towards her two best friends. "I live for adventure." He smirked, and Hermione sighed. It was pointless making conversation. She turned instead to the menu she was so familiar with.

An awkward silence drifted briefly over the table as Hermione hid behind her menu, Ron stared at his hands, and Harry looked at both of his best friends. Then Harry Potter, defender of the wizarding world and of conversations with former rivals, turned his head to Malfoy. What they talked about mattered not to Hermione, and she was relieved when the waiter came.

All in all, it was a very awkward lunch. Hermione sat silently for most of the lunch while Harry talked animatedly with everyone. Ron even piped in a few times and relaxed. Hermione was a little irritated at that, though unreasonably. Ron was supposed to be holding a grudge with her, not succumbing to Malfoy's presence so easily. The walk back to the lift was silent on Hermione's part again, and she noticed the glances Draco would send her, as if challenging her to speak to him.

Before they all split paths, Hermione took a deep breath. "Have a good day, Draco." She even brought herself to look him in his grey eyes. Everyone was surprised by that.

"Thank you. You too." He nodded at her and turned and followed Harry out.

"Blimey, 'Mione. After the way you've been acting all lunch I'm surprised you even talked to him." He grinned and touched her cheek. "You're growin' up!"

"Oh, shove it," she said, playfully swatting his hand away. "I'm going back to work. I'll see you later."

"You bet." He waved and walked to his side of the department.

_It was late. She was sitting at her window, waiting for the owl her boyfriend was supposed to be sending her. The hours ticked by, and not a word came. Finally, at around two o' clock, she decided to Floo to his house instead. She already knew what he was up to. When she arrived, she saw him half-sprawled on the couch, passed out as expected. She rolled her eyes and angrily counted to ten before going and waking him. _

_ "What—" he sputtered to the cold water that was dumped onto his face. _

_ "Get up, you git," she said. "Aren't you forgetting something?" _

_ "Haven't forgotten a thing since forever," he slurred slightly. _

_ "My gosh, you're pathetic. You were supposed to owl me tonight." _

_ "Is it tonight already?" _

_ "It's pointless talking to you." She pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment, then pulled him onto his feet. "Come on. Let's get you to bed." _

_ "Yes, bed. Will you be in it?" _

_ "Hell no." _

_ "But why?" he whined, and she shot him a glare. _

_ "You'll know why in the morning. I'll save my lecture till then." _

_ "No, no! No more lectures from you!" he groaned. "You give too many." _

_ "What?" She stopped and glared. "You should be acting more thankful to me!" _

_ "I'm drunk." _

_ She rolled her eyes and helped him up the stairs to his bedroom. He tried to kiss her, but she just deposited him onto his bed, and he was too tired to get back up. _

_ "Goodnight," she said stiffly, and turned to go out. _

_ "I love you!" he called after her, and she scoffed before taking the Floo back home._

* * *

><p><em><strong><em>AN: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and all that comes with it except for fanfiction! Thank you so much for reading and (what you're about to do, right?) reviewing! See if you can tell what I was influenced by :) If I reveal that secret now, the rest of the story's going to be rather predictable (unless it is already, being Dramione). I'm just exploring a new way of writing. Tell me what you think! Thank you._**_


	2. It Had Better Be a Coincidence

"Seven o'clock. It's bloody seven o'clock! It's time to rise and sing and dance and play at seven o'clock! Seven o'clo—"

Hermione shut off the singing alarm and sighed. She got up and stretched before getting out of her warm bed. George had made the alarm clock for her. It was a prank clock that began to weep and whine when one didn't wake or turn it off in five minutes, and then it would either explode or squirt water at her, she didn't know which, in ten. George hadn't told her which either, and she didn't exactly want to find out.

She washed and dressed and was ready for her day by seven-thirty. She had breakfast planned with Ginny right now before work, so she quickly grabbed her purse and the folders she'd taken home from work, and Apparated to their favourite café outside of the Ministry.

"Hi Gin, sorry I'm late," she said as she walked in, and then stopped in her tracks. What the hell?

Ginny looked up and Malfoy turned to look at her.

"Um, hello Malfoy," Hermione said.

"Morning, Granger."

He turned back around and Hermione widened her brown eyes at Ginny. Ginny just raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Draco came in as I was waiting and I invited him to join us. Eating alone isn't always very fun."

"Oh, I don't know. It could be fun sometimes," Hermione replied, and slid in next to Ginny. "But I'm glad you could join us Draco."

He seemed to see right through that one, but nodded and sipped his coffee.

"I'm going to get something," she said and got up and went to the counter. Taking a deep breath, Hermione smiled at the cashier. "I'd like a cappuccino and a croissant, please."

"What size?"

"Just a small, please."

"That'll be 3 sickles and a knut."

Hermione handed her the coins and, after a thought she added, "Can I get some grape jam too?" And the cashier handed her what she wanted. Hermione thanked her, then stood to the side to wait for her drink. She didn't want to go back to the table quite yet. It seemed like all of her friends were welcoming Malfoy with open arms, something she never would've been able to see some of them do. Especially the Weasleys. Hadn't they had some problems with the Malfoys in general? The whole world was mental.

Hermione received her coffee and turned and saw Malfoy staring at her. Their eyes met for a brief second before he turned his head back to a rambling Ginny. Hermione frowned. How rude, ignoring the girl who was speaking to him. She sighed. Maybe she was just jumping to conclusions.

She went back to the table and put her hands around the cup. It didn't matter that the weather was getting warmer. Coffee was good all the time, especially with a buttered croissant.

"So what were you all talking about?" Hermione asked as she sat down again. She busied herself with spreading jelly on her croissant so she wouldn't have to look at anybody.

"I was just telling Draco about what's been going on in my life for the last year since I graduated."

"Sounds invigorating," Hermione teased, and picked up her coffee. Ginny nudged her playfully, and Hermione smiled back. She sipped her drink slowly, and turned her eyes unwillingly to their companion. He was sipping his own coffee, and when he put his cup down, he looked at her, determined.

"Hermione," he said, her name sounding familiar on his tongue. "What have you been doing since the war?"

"Well, I went back to school and finished my year. And then I got a job in the care of magical creatures department and tried to start a new campaign for house elves, but it didn't work out very well. Then Harry told me that this department that we're currently working at needed a new head, so I got the job I currently have now."

"So you, Weasley, and Potter are all heads of your respective departments."

Hermione nodded. "Yes."

Draco let out a breath of air through his nose and smirked. "I suppose I should have figured. War heroes and all that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"Just that you've got it easier than the rest of us because you saved the world and all that."

Hermione frowned. "No, it's not. We might get jobs easier, but everyone has really high expectations of us now. It's not easy at all. Actually, it's harder. We're constantly watched by the public eye. We have to work hard at our job and work at keeping our reputations clean."

"Shouldn't be too hard for you, should it?" he asked innocently, sipping his coffee.

"We're still human, Malfoy. We can mess up, but it'll count against us even worse than it counts against you."

"That's because everyone expects me to trip up." He lifted his coffee to his mouth, then paused. "Or trip down, rather." He sipped his coffee.

Hermione shook her head. "You wouldn't understand unless you were in this position."

"You're right. I wouldn't. Just as you can't understand my position either."

Hermione nodded. "This was a pointless conversation."

"No. It helps us get a little more insight into each other's heads. Neither of us are perfect."

Hermione took a bite out of her croissant and cast a glance at Ginny who sent her back a message with her big brown eyes. Hermione mentally sighed as she finished chewing. Why was everyone pushing her to talk to him?

"Did you go back to school? I didn't see you there."

"My mother hired tutors for me because she knew it would be really hard to go back to school after everything that had happened. But I took my N.E.W.T.s with the rest of the class."

"I didn't see you in the testing room either."

"I don't remember seeing you. It flew by really fast."

"Yeah, same here. Harry told me you did well, though."

"I was hoping for a Ministry job, so I studied hard." He cracked a smirk, and Hermione nodded.

"Well, congratulations. You're finally an Auror." She took another bite of her croissant.

"I'll say thank you, even if I heard a bit of sarcasm in there."

Hermione ignored him and finished up her croissant as Ginny began to talk to him again much more animatedly than Hermione had. She was grateful for it. She continued to appraise the former Death eater with her eyes, wondering what his real motive for becoming an Auror was. It was obvious that he had much more respect for Harry than before, and was less of a prat than he had been at school.

Hermione finally looked at her watch, surprised. "Oh, crikey. We should get out of here soon. It's almost eight."

"Most definitely," Draco said, looking at his own watch. "Five minutes. Should we go now?"

"Yes. I don't like being late."

"Neither do I." The two looked at each other, and Hermione smiled slightly.

"I'm glad that's one thing we agree on."

Draco shrugged. "I suppose." He got up and Hermione threw her rubbish into the bin. Draco held the door open for the two girls. The lift ride up wasn't very awkward because Ginny chattered throughout the entire ride, and they arrived at the second level quickly.

"I'll see you later, Gin," Hermione said, exiting the lift with Draco.

"Yeah, of course."

Draco spoke up as well. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too, Draco. Bye!"

The lift doors closed, and Hermione turned to her companion. She pressed her lips together in a tight smile. "Have a nice day, Draco."

"You too."

They parted ways, during which Hermione held her breath.

_Two days. It wasn't that long from not hearing from her boyfriend. He'd seemingly fall off the face of the earth for weeks at a time, during which she assumed he was drowning himself at a bar. He always was. He suddenly came into her flat without warning, and had grabbed her pale face and was kissing her. She could smell fags and whiskey on his clothes and breath. _

"_Were you smoking?" she asked, pulling his face away. His half-lidded eyes studied her face. _

"_No," he said. He leant in to kiss her again, but she leant away. _

"_What's going on?" _

"_I can't kiss my girlfriend?" _

"_It's suspicious when you come in and kiss me like this and smell like fags when you never smoke." _

"_I love you." _

"_Tell me what happened." _

_He kissed her again. And again. And yet again until he finally was ready to speak. "I love you."_

_She frowned. "Yes, I know. Are you all right?" _

"_Yes. At the office party a couple days ago, I just realized how much I loved you. I'm sorry I don't visit enough." _

"_That's very sweet. But where have you been?" _

"_I was at a friend's. She was having a hard time." _

_Her eyes narrowed. "She?" _

"_Don't get jealous, love. She's just a friend." _

_She sighed and closed her eyes as his lips touched her forehead. "I believe you. You know how I am." _

"_Don't I know," he whispered. _

_She sighed. "You should. But clean up before I die from second-hand smoke." She pushed him away and smiled. _

"_I got it." He smiled back. _

_"Do you want to shower here?" _

_"No, thanks. It'll be better doing it at home. I don't have any clothes here either." _

_"Oh. Right." _

_He smiled. "See you." And he Disapparated. _

_She wondered when she'd be seeing him again. _

Someone knocked on Hermione's office door. "Come in," she called. Neville Longbottom came in, and Hermione's eyes lit up. "Oh, Neville! How are you?"

"I'm great. How are you?"

"Just fantastic. Did you hear Harry hired Malfoy?"

"Yeah, I did." Neville shrugged uncomfortably, obviously not wanting to talk about it.

"How's Hogwarts?" she asked instead.

"It's great. The repairs are going as planned and are going really quickly. They'll be done by the end of this year, hopefully."

Hermione smiled brightly. "That's wonderful! And the kids?"

"I'm teaching the older ones, so some of them can remember the war. It's strange that the younger ones can't, though. It's only been three years."

"Yes, I know. It's strange to imagine. Soon it'll just be a thing of the past, in the history books."

Neville laughed. "Yes, and we'll be put on a pedestal even more. The heroic veterans teaching those curious children. There won't be a difference between Death eater and the Light side."

"There will always be a difference," Hermione said with a sigh.

Neville smiled. "At least to us."

"Definitely."

"Well, I came because I wanted to invite you to the anniversary of the end of the war."

"Oh! Right. In May, right? May 2nd?"

Neville smiled kindly. "You should remember. After all, you were there."

Hermione grinned. "I'll be there with Harry and Ron. Are you going around inviting everyone?"

"Yeah, all the people I remember from Hogwarts."

"Are you going to invite…" She didn't even have to finish her sentence.

"Yes. He was in our year, and they were a part of the war."

Hermione nodded.

"And Mrs. Malfoy helped Harry towards the end."

"Yeah, I know. But does that one act vouch for their whole family?"

"You just have to let people off the hook sometimes, especially after a war like that," Neville said patiently. "You have to remember; we were all dragged into it."

Hermione nodded. "I know. You're right."

Neville smiled. "Yes, I know. Well, it was really nice catching up, but I've got to go invite the others. You'll get your official invitation in the mail soon."

Hermione smiled. "I look forward to it. I'll see you soon, Neville!"

"You too, Hermione." He stepped out with a smile and closed the door. Celebrating the anniversary of the end of the war always sort of depressed Hermione. She was reminded of all the death when they named every single casualty on the Light side. Her friends, her classmates, even could-have-been colleagues, acquaintances. She sniffed. She hated being reminded of it all, and she was expected to stay strong through it all. It was only the third year, still painful to remember.

There was another knock on the door. This time it was her secretary. "Miss Granger?"

"Yes Genna?" Hermione answered, trying to look busy.

"Ron Weasley's here to see you."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat. "Let him in."

Genna disappeared and Ron appeared in her place. "Hey," he said with a warm smile. "I brought you some coffee."

"Thanks." She took the warm coffee gratefully and sipped it slowly. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Neville reminded me of the reunion at Hogwarts."

"Yeah." Hermione sighed. The two friends sat in silence for a moment in thought.

"It's been three years already," Ron said slowly.

"Yeah, I know."

He smiled a little in disbelief. "It's hard to believe."

Hermione nodded.

"I never want to go," Ron continued. "Too many memories."

Hermione looked at him shyly. "That's also when we had our first kiss."

Ron smiled. "Yeah, it was." He looked at his watch. "Oh, I have to go. It's almost 12:30."

"Oh, time for our lunch break. Are you coming?"

Ron shook his head, then smiled goofily. The smile that struck Hermione's heart. "I have a date with Genna." Her heart dropped.

"What? My secretary?"

"Yeah. Didn't I tell you? I asked her out last week."

Hermione's jaw dropped. What did that red-headed woman have that she didn't? "Oh. No, you didn't tell me." She struggled to regain her composure.

"Well, tell Harry sorry for me. I'll catch you later." He smiled and waltzed out, leaving the door open to hear him talking to Genna's melodic voice. Hermione wrinkled her nose. Genna and Ron? They didn't match!

Whatever. She could handle it. Indignant, and more than a little jealous, Hermione cleaned up her desk and grabbed her bag before meeting with Harry half way to the diner. They walked together, Harry chatting animatedly till they reached the place. Then he spotted Draco.

"Hey, Draco!" he called, and Malfoy turned. "Why don't you join us for lunch?"

Draco took a look at Hermione and then back at Harry. "Yeah, all right." He got up and joined them. Hermione almost groaned. She just wanted to complain to Harry, but now she wouldn't be able to. Not with _Malfoy_ here.

"How are you Malfoy?" she asked absently.

"Fine. And you?"

"Just fine." She wanted to end the conversation there, but Malfoy didn't seem to get the hint.

"Busy day today?"

"Not particularly. Just paperwork. Nothing exciting."

"Just how she likes it," Harry added with a grin. "I, however, would go mad."

"As would I." Draco smirked.

Hermione sighed. "I'm just tired." She looked around for a waiter. "And I'm hungry." She saw Ron enter the diner with Genna, and her heart squeezed a little. They looked like they were enjoying their conversation.

"Oh look. There's Ron and my secretary," she commented nonchalantly.

The two men turned to look. "Ah. Little jealous, Granger?" Draco asked with a smirk. She sniffed.

"No. Why would I be?"

"I don't know." Draco had clearly received the message Harry's glare was giving him.

Hermione turned around to look for the waiter again. "When is that blasted waiter coming? Does he usually take this long?"

"It's only been a few minutes," Harry said with a little laugh. "Be patient. It gets busy during this time, you know that."

"Of course. I didn't have much breakfast today."

"What do you usually get for breakfast?" Draco asked.

Hermione looked at her nails. "Maybe a breakfast sandwich or cereal."

"You only had a croissant today."

"Yes. I was in a bit of a rush."

"Did you two have breakfast together?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes. Ginny invited him along."

"Oh."

"You and your girlfriend have a knack of finding me when you're about to eat. Especially with this one." He gestured his head towards Hermione, and she sighed.

"Just my luck."

Harry smiled. "You going to the ball, Hermione?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course. What kind of question is that? We have to be there."

"I know, but I also know that you never want to go. I'm sure they wouldn't hold it against you if you didn't go."

"Yes, but I should. It's expected of me."

"You going, mate?" Harry asked, turning to Draco.

"Most likely. Mother'll make me go. She likes celebration and dances of all sorts."

"That'll be nice. Hopefully you won't be wearing those old-fashioned robes you wore in fourth year, eh?" Harry laughed.

"That was the style then," Draco replied coolly. "Unlike your dress robes that year." He smirked, and Harry chuckled.

"Touché." He turned to their female companion. "Hermione, however…you could probably pull off wearing the same dress." He winked, and Hermione blushed.

"Well, thanks Harry. Ginny will probably be excited to go dress shopping for this thing since she didn't go the years before."

"Yeah, I know."

"Why not?" Draco asked.

"She had school and N.E.W.T.s to study for."

"Thank God that's all over now," Harry groaned.

"Definitely," Draco agreed.

"I dunno, I miss school sometimes," Hermione said slowly. "I miss working towards something. Now that I'm the head of the department, there's really no other position to be working towards. I'm the head; the only thing that could top that would running for Minister. And I like studying."

Harry laughed. "That is why you're Hermione Granger, the swottiest girl I know."

Hermione smiled. "I wear the title proudly."

"You must be mental," Draco said, then looked around. "Where the hell is that bloody…" He raised his hand. "Waiter!" he called.

"My apologies," the waiter said, scurrying over. He looked at the odd trio. "Where is Mr. Weasley?"

"He has other plans to attend to," Harry replied. "Now can we order?"

"Yes, yes, sorry."

Once they had ordered and the waiter had left, Harry leant forward. "That guy was new, wasn't he?"

Hermione sighed. "I don't like trainees."

"Well, thanks Granger," Draco replied.

She ignored him. "They're always so slow."

"Yeah, mate. Stop being so slow," Harry said to Draco, nudging him.

He frowned. "I can't help it. I'm just learning, okay? That's why I'm called an Auror-in-training, not a—"

"It's a joke, Draco. You're going to have to learn how to take a joke from our lot," Harry said patiently.

Draco just huffed, slightly embarrassed. "Well, I'm just not used to joking around with you all. Or anybody."

"What a sad childhood you must've had," Hermione noted, and Draco was about to flare up and defend himself again when Harry put a hand on his shoulder.

"She's joking! Calm down, mate."

Draco shook his head. "I'll never understand you people."

"It's all a part of the training process. You'll get it soon enough." Harry grinned and Draco sighed.

"Maybe I'm the sane one and you're all mad."

"The world would first have to revolve around you to be that way," Hermione replied with a saccharine sweetness. "Too bad it doesn't."

"What's with all the animosity, Granger? Afraid I'm going to take Weasley's place?"

"Not in a million years." She leaned her cheek on her hand and looked away. Her eyes unwillingly landed on the two, and she sighed. Genna was playing with her hair a lot and Ron was smiling. They seemed to be really into each other.

"Earth to Hermione," Harry said, waving a hand in front of her face. Draco at least had the decency not to chuckle, but Harry didn't.

"What?"

"I was asking you a question."

"Sorry. What was it?"

"Would you mind if Draco joined our group to the ball?"

"What?" Hermione frowned. "Aren't you going to go with your family?"

"Well, my parents are going and I'd feel awkward going without a date or friends."

"No, I will not be your date, sorry."

Harry grinned. "Don't jump to conclusions, 'mione. He just wants to go with us without the pressure of finding a date."

Hermione sighed. "Yes, that's fine."

"Are you sure?" Draco pressed, and Hermione nodded. The two boys stared at her until Hermione rolled her eyes. "I said okay! Were you hoping I'd say no?"

"No, just surprised," Draco muttered. Then he turned to Harry. "Who else is going to be going with you all?"

"Well, it'll be Hermione, Ron and I, Ginny, and I think Ron is going to bring your secretary, 'mione."

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Oh." She still couldn't get used to Ron and Genna going out.

"Luna and Neville are going to join us too," Harry continued, and looked at Draco. "Any of your friends going?"

"Not that I know of at the moment. I think Pansy might be interested in going, but I don't know for certain. Most of them want to avoid anything to do with the war for quite some time."

Harry nodded, and Hermione wrinkled her nose again.

"You can ask her to join, if you feel uncomfortable with our lot of former Gryffindors," Harry said with a grin.

"I think I'll survive," Draco replied with a lazy grin. Hermione didn't pay any more attention to them, but instead leaned on her hand and watched Ron and Genna. Their looks were similar; blue eyes and red hair. Genna's was more auburn than Ron's fiery red, but it looked good anyway. Should she be happy for them? Genna laughed and touched Ron's arm, and Hermioine clenched her jaw, feeling inexplicably sad.

"Alright, Granger?" Draco asked, touching her arm tentatively.

"Yeah. Yes, of course. I'm fine."

Their food came, so Hermione raised her head and smiled at the waiter. "Thank you," she said when he placed her sandwich in front of her.

"You're quiet today," Draco noted after awhile.

Hermione just shrugged, finishing off one half of her food. "I just don't feel like talking."

"Fair enough," Draco said, tucking into his chicken again.

Lunch was quiet and quick. Genna was back at the office before Hermione was. Genna greeted her boss with a smile. "How was your lunch, Ms. Granger?"

"It was fine. How was yours? I saw you with Ron."

Genna blushed, and Hermione had the urge to frown.

"It was lovely."

Hermione nodded, jealous. "I'm glad." And she disappeared into her office.

_It was a cool, rainy day, one that made her wish for the sun. She was attempting to write a nonfiction novel on the behaviour of certain magical creatures. She just hadn't narrowed down which one she wanted to write about yet. She leant her head on her hand and sighed. Her face was close to the window, so her breath created a fog on the window. She closed her eyes for a moment, and suddenly she felt hands cover her eyes. _

"_Guess who?" a masculine voice said in amusement, tickling her ear. He had whiskey on his breath. She smiled. _

"_Do I have to?" She turned and smiled. She kissed him. "Where have you been?" she asked. "I owled you a couple times yesterday." _

"_I was helping throw a birthday party for my friend." _

"_Oh. When is it?" _

"_It was yesterday." _

_She frowned. "Oh. You didn't invite me along?" _

_He removed his coat and kissed her nose. "I didn't think you'd want to go. Just a bunch of childhood friends, you know." _

"_You usually invite me along." _

"_You were busy with work." _

_She frowned. "This isn't one of those I'm-getting-back-at-you-for-having-a-better-job-than-me, is it? You're jealous I have a better job than you?" _

"_What? No!" He scowled. "Why would you even insinuate that?" _

"_This wouldn't be the first time." _

"_That's a terrible thing to accuse someone of." _

_She scoffed. "Oh, please. You didn't invite me to your other friend's get-together because of that, because she was from 'work.'" _

"_I said it was a private party!" _

"_So? That's not a good excuse!" _

"_Why must I take you along to every event I'm invited to go to? I don't see you doing that with me!" _

"_Oh? Like what?" _

"_Let's not play the blame game." _

"_No, let's." She crossed her arms. "When did I not invite you to go somewhere?" _

"_You didn't invite me to _your _friend's party." _

"_That's because you told me that you never wanted me to take you to anything they threw." _

"_Or that one party at the pub." _

"_You don't like the people I go to the pubs with." _

"_Isn't it the thought that counts?" he asked, mocking her. She grit her teeth and glared darkly. He sighed. "Sometimes we need to spend some time alone, just with our mates. I can't go with you everywhere, and you can't go with me everywhere." _

"_To parties?" _

"_Don't blame it all on me! You do exactly the same thing to me all the time!"_

_She rolled her eyes, and he clenched his jaw. "Under different circumstances, obviously," she said, speaking like he was stupid. _

"_No, not different. Why are you getting upset over such a small thing?" _

"_It's the small things that count," she said angrily, and he looked away and scoffed. _

"_This is ridiculous. Owl me when you grow up." He picked up his coat. _

"_What? How dare you!" _

_The sound of him Flooing home was his response._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Please review! :)<strong>_


	3. Under Pressure

Hermione got an owl later in the day from Ginny. "Dress shopping Saturday afternoon?" it read. Hermione wrote back in the affirmative and sighed, trying to pay attention to her work again. Every time she saw Genna, she couldn't help but think of her with Ron. It made her sad a lot of the time, and she attempted to avoid her secretary so she wouldn't have to think about how he'd found someone so quickly after their breakup. Hermione regarded herself as an independent person, but seeing her ex-boyfriend with another girl after only a few weeks made her want to have someone again.

"Whatever," Hermione muttered to herself. "I can live without a boyfriend."

The knock on her door made her jump and she gathered her wits back again before calling, "Come in!"

Genna entered, and Hermione wanted to groan. "Yes, Genna?"

"Ron's here to see you." The little flush on Genna's cheeks wasn't surprising anymore.

"Let him in." She set her paperwork aside and sighed again. Genna disappeared and in her place stood another redhead.

"Hey 'Mione," he said with a grin and shut the door behind him.

"Hi Ron. Don't you have work to get to?" she teased.

"You know me. Gotta take breaks. Like normal people."

Hermione shook her head. "This normal people stuff…you should teach me how to do it sometime."

Ron chuckled. "I'll put that on my to-do list."

Hermione smiled back. "What's up?"

"I need advice."

She cocked her head to the side. "Advice?"

"Yeah. Remember how I said I went out on a date with Genna?"

"Yes."

"Well, it didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but she won't leave me alone now."

Hermione frowned. "What? But it looked like you guys were having fun!"

"Yeah, well…we don't have as much in common as I thought."

"So you need advice on how to get rid of her?" Hermione asked, brows furrowed. Now relieved that there wasn't really anything going on between them, the pity for her secretary came in full force.

"Er, yeah, if you put it that way. I just don't know how to tell her that I'm not interested without hurting her feelings."

"Try to be tactful, Ron. I don't really think I can help you with this one."

"Please, Hermione? You know how I mess things up like this. I'm no good with words."

"Well, you've certainly improved a lot since school."

"Not with breakups, though."

Hermione thought for a moment. That was true. Even though she had understood what he had said about their relationship, she'd refused to talk to him for days after he broke up with her. He wasn't very tactful, and had fumbled with words that came out very wrong.

"Fine, I'll help you," she sighed, "for Genna's sake. I'll tell you what to say."

"Okay, great!" Ron said with a smile. "So, uh, what should I say?"

"Just tell her the truth. But say, 'I had a great time on our date, Genna, but I don't think we should date.' And she'll ask why, and you'll say, 'It's just that our interests don't really match up.' And then she might get angry or understand."

"Okay, okay," Ron said.

"Practise on me," Hermione said.

Ron cleared his throat. "Okay. Um, I had a great time on our date, Genna, but I don't think we should date."

Hermione nodded encouragingly. "But why, Ron? If we had such a good time?"

Ron furrowed his brows. "Er, uh, our interests don't match. I realised that we're two really different people with different interests."

"Oh." Hermione paused. "Good job, Ron. I think you're ready."

Ron grinned. "Thanks. I'm going to have to do it right now."

He walked out before Hermione could stop him, and she heard him bump into Genna.

"Oh, hi Genna," he said uncomfortably.

"Hey Ron," Genna said in a soft voice.

"Um, can we talk?"

"We're talking right now."

"Er, right." Hermione heard Genna giggle. Then there was a pause.

"What is it?" Genna asked.

"Um, Genna, I…I had a good time on our date—"

"Oh, me too."

"But I don't think we should go out."

There was another long, awkward pause, and Hermione screwed up her face in worry. 'Just say it, Ron!' she thought to herself.

"But…why?" Genna asked predictably. There were tears in her voice.

"Well, I, uh, we're just too different."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, don't cry! I just mean that our interests aren't the same and we're into different things."

"You don't want to try and make it work?"

Another pause, and Hermione smacked her forehead with the butt of her palm.

"I, no, sorry. I'm…I'm not looking to date anyone right now!" he said quickly, and Hermione shook her head.

"Then why'd you ask me out then?" Genna asked, sounding indignant.

"Uh, I dunno. I thought it would work but I don't think it will."

Genna scoffed. "Fine. Whatever."

There was another very long pause, and then Ron came back in, his face red. He closed the door behind him.

"That was bloody awkward," he said, and Hermione smiled with sympathy.

"At least it's over."

"Yeah. Thanks a lot for your help. I can always count on you!"

"Next time you've got to do it on your own," she said, and he grinned.

"We'll see about that." He went over and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks. I'll see you later."

Hermione nodded. "Okay."

"Oh, one last question," Ron said, turning back to her. "Do you have a date to the ball?"

"Not currently." Was he going to ask her? Hermione held her breath in anticipation.

"Well, Malfoy's lookin' for a date. You should go with him." He grinned.

Hermione pursed her lips. "No, I don't want to go with him. He wouldn't ask me anyway."

"Oh. Okay. You should still think about it. Well, see you later." He waved and exited her office. Hermione frowned. Did Ron not want to go with her? Or did he have a date already? Hermione sniffed. Maybe he was interested in someone else. _Another_ girl. Ron seemed to be quite popular with the girls recently. Hmph.

Hermione suddenly felt childish. He could date whomever he wanted, that wasn't her business. She sighed and turned back to her work.

The next afternoon, at precisely two o'clock, Hermione and Ginny met in Diagon Alley to shop for dresses. Madam Malkin was delighted to have not one, but two war heroes shopping there. She pretended that she remembered their faces from when they were eleven and unimportant and just starting Hogwarts, but Hermione knew she was just trying to suck up a bit.

"I'll help the two of you personally," she offered graciously, and Hermione thanked her before perusing through her dress robe selection.

"What about this one, Gin?" Hermione called, holding up purple robes.

"No, not that one," Ginny replied. "You think Harry would like this one?" She held up green ones, and Hermione laughed.

"Besides the fact that it looks so Slytherin, why not?"

Ginny grinned and teasingly stuck her tongue out at her before putting the robes back.

"So I heard Malfoy's going to the ball with us," Ginny said after awhile. Hermione glanced at Madam Malkin from the corner of her eye and saw her perk up.

"Yeah, he is."

"Why?"

Hermione shrugged. "Harry offered."

"Really? Oh. I heard he's looking for a date, too."

"Yeah, Ron told me that too."

"Well, since you don't have a date, why don't you go with him?"

Hermione smiled. "First of all, I don't want to go with him, and second of all, he would never ask me. We're too different, and we hardly speak to each other."

"Well, get to know each other through this ball. It's not like the Yule Ball or anything."

"That's true."

"Not as important." Ginny grinned and pulled out two dress robes. "I want to try these on."

Madam Malkin busied herself with setting up a dressing room for her, and then looked at Hermione. "Need any help, Ms. Granger?"

"Well, I don't know what colour would work for me."

"Oh, that's easy!" Madam Malkin exclaimed. "Almost any colour would look good on you because of your light skin tone and your brown hair. Though perhaps you should stay away from bright colours, like orange." Orange made Hermione think of Ron's hair.

"So, maybe a colour like this?" She held out royal blue robes.

"Yes! Or these." Green ones that made Hermione wrinkle her nose.

"Um, I'd rather not wear green."

"Oh! That's fine. Dislike the colour? I understand completely." She pulled out a dress in the same style but in periwinkle. "Oh! Or red." She held another up to Hermione. "Hmm, yes, yes. This one looks fine on you. Perhaps a bit plain, but we could spruce it up with jewelry. Are you partial to jewelry, Ms. Granger?"

"I don't wear it regularly, but I suppose I like it as much as the next girl."

"Perfect! Well here, try these and tell me how you like them. These are chiffon so you should feel very comfortable in them."

"Thank you."

Madam Malkin was right. The wine red dress was very chic and made her look slender and classy. If she tied up her hair just right…well, Ginny could help her with that part. The younger girl knew how to dress her up better for parties.

"I'll take this one," Hermione told Madam Malkin once she'd finished trying them on.

"Oh, lovely choice!" Madam Malkin exclaimed, and Hermione smiled.

"Where could I find jewelry for it?"

"There's a small jewelry store in London," the storekeeper replied, and pulled a piece of parchment and a quill. "Here's the address. It's my cousin's jewelry store. I promise you the quality is real and for a lower price." She winked with a smile. She began to fiddle with the cashier, then smiled at Hermione once again. "There's a 10% discount on these dress robes for the War Memorial Ball coming up. It's 25 Galleons and seven Sickles."

Hermione had never found herself short of money, but after the Ministry had rewarded the war heroes with a very generous amount of Galleons, her purse was much fuller than it had been. She carefully counted out the coins from her coin purse, then smiled.

"Thank you very much," she said, and took the bag Madam Malkin had put the dress in. "I'll visit your cousin later today."

"Tell her I sent you," the stout witch replied. "I think she's giving discounts for the ball as well."

"Perfect."

"Did you find your robes already, 'Mione?" Ginny called from the dressing room.

"Yes. What's taking you so long?" Hermione teased.

"I just love all of these dresses, but none of them fit me quite right."

"I'll alter it for you quick as a whip," Madam Malkin replied.

Ginny stepped out in very sleek and elegant black dress robes with emerald-green designs on it. Hermione smiled. "Ginny, that one's perfect!"

"Do you think so?" Ginny turned around for her two-person audience. "I rather like it, but it's a little too long."

"Madam Malkin can alter it."

"That I can!" Madam Malkin piped up.

"I've got just the heels for that too," Hermione added.

"That's all fine. Let me see the dress you picked out, Hermione!"

Hermione pulled her dress robes out, and Ginny's brown eyes widened. "Hermione, that's beautiful. And funnily, I've got shoes for that too." She grinned.

"Perfect. Well, go on and get it altered and let's go get some ice cream. I've been dying to try that new ice cream parlour that opened next to Flourish & Blotts."

"Sounds like a good plan." Ginny changed quickly and paid for the slightly more expensive dress as Hermione made herself comfortable on one of the couches. Ginny stood on the platform looking bored, but Madam Malkin was quick. She took the measurements in less than ten minutes and asked Ginny's opinion on what should be cut before telling them to come back in half an hour. Ginny smiled and thanked her before the two witches strode out.

"Do you know who Ron's going to the ball with?" Hermione asked as they walked.

"One of his friends, I think," Ginny said nonchalantly. "Why?"

"Just wondering. I thought he was going with Genna, my secretary."

Ginny shrugged. "I don't have any idea."

"Ginny," Hermione groaned.

"What does it matter? Ask Ron yourself."

"Fine." They were silent for a moment until Ginny put two-and-two together in her head.

"Don't tell me you want to go with my brother," she gasped.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No. I was just curious! Since he stopped going out with Genna—"

"Don't lie to me." Ginny groaned. "I knew this would happen," she muttered.

"What would happen?"

Ginny shook her head. "Nothing." She stopped her friend. "Hermione, I think you should go with Malfoy. Both of you are dateless."

"Ginny, we've been over this. I'm not going to go with him."

"Why not?"

"Well first of all, we hardly know each other, second he doesn't seem very fond of me, third, I'm not fond of him either, fourth, we have bad history…" She trailed off.

"Bad history?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Yeah, Hogwarts?"

"Right."

"Need I go on?"

Ginny sighed. "I guess not." She grabbed Hermione's arm. "Let's go on then. To the ice cream parlour! Are you going to find a date?"

Hermione smiled at the quick transition. "No. I'm fine with going by myself. I'll be with my friends."

"And Malfoy."

"Yeah, and him."

Ginny grinned. "We'll have fun."

Hermione smiled. "Life is what we make it."

Ginny groaned. "Not a cliché. Speak English, Hermione." She began running away.

"Clichés are historic and should always be used," Hermione replied, chasing after her red-headed companion. She laughed. "Ginny, wait up!"

"Not till you stop using those corny phrases!" The professional Quidditch player turned her head and smiled. "Race you!"

"Oh, come on!" But Hermione's breathless complaint was lost as Ginny took off ahead. Hermione stopped and then smirked. She'd best her. Hermione Disapparated.

When Ginny saw Hermione appear ahead of her right in front of the ice cream parlour, she shouted, "Hey! Unfair! Penalty to Granger!"

Hermione just smiled and disappeared into the shop. When Ginny arrived, panting slightly, Hermione smiled again. "I win, but I'll buy."

"You'd better after cheatin' like that."

"Not cheating, Ginny," Hermione laughed. "Just using my resources." She grinned and Ginny huffed and took a seat.

In half an hour, they went back to Madam Malkin's to see if the alterations were finished. Hermione pushed open the door and the bell jingled, causing everyone's eyes in the store to turn and look at them. Malfoy was one of them.

"Hi Draco," Ginny said with a friendly wave. He was up on the platform getting fitted in dashing dress robes. It looked more modern and included a tie which Hermione was slightly surprised at.

"Ginny, Hermione," he said politely.

"Hello Malfoy." Hermione pressed her lips together.

"Please, take a seat," Madam Malkin said. "It'll only take a few minutes."

Draco grinned lazily. "That's what she said fifteen minutes ago."

Madam Malkin huffed, but accepted the teasing gracefully. Ginny smiled. The girls took a seat next to a sandy haired girl who was watching Malfoy with her clear blue eyes. When they sat down, she turned to them.

Her beauty was striking and her facial features looked French. She had fair skin like Malfoy did. It made her look elegant. She was wearing her hair long with a blue headband on her head.

"You are Draco's friends?" she asked. She had a French accent which almost melted Hermione's heart. She smiled.

"We're acquaintances," Hermione replied, and the girl frowned at the unfamiliar word. "He is the friend of my friend. We went to school together," she amended quickly. "I'm Hermione Granger."

The girl's friendly smile was back again. "My name is Adeline Rocher."

"And I'm Ginny Weasley." They shook hands. "Pleased to meet you."

"It is pleasure to meet you both."

"Are you Draco's friend?" Ginny asked.

"Oui. He shows me around."

"She and her mother are visiting from France," Draco chimed in. "We're acquaintances as well, and she wanted to see London. We're just stopping by here so I can get my robes altered."

"They look nice," Ginny offered, and he grinned.

"Thank you."

Hermione was fixated on Adeline and was trying to keep up a conversation with her.

"I work on my English a lot in France," Adeline was telling her. She was speaking slowly, making sure she had the words right. "I went to Beauxbatons. They do not have many English class there, so I study with tutor. Tutors." She smiled. "I wish to know English well. Draco helps me."

"Draco knows French?" Hermione said in surprise.

"Oui. He learn from my mother. His mother teach me English when I am here."

"That sounds interesting. I never knew you knew French, Malfoy," she said, looking at the wizard in question.

"Oui, oui mademoiselle. J'parle très bon français. Et toi?" He grinned smugly and Hermione sighed. She didn't bother attempting to understand.

Adeline was smiling. "He is very helpful."

"That's good to hear. Are you going to go to the Celebration of Voldemort's Downfall Anniversary Ball with him? It's in two weeks." That was a mouthful.

"No, he do not tell me about a ball. Draco." Adeline looked at him accusingly, and he smiled charmingly. Even _Hermione_ could admit that it was charming. Not that she would.

"C'est un bal privé, mon amie."

"No excuse, Draco," she said and crossed her arms. He just smiled sweetly and his eyes flickered to Hermione for a moment before looking back at the girl.

"Je vais avec la femme que tu êtes assis à côté."

Adeline turned accusatory eyes on Hermione, and Hermione in turn glared at Draco. "You'd better not be talking about me," she said. Draco just smiled again.

"Est-ce que tu l'aimes?" Adeline asked.

Draco's face contorted into a scowl. "No!"

Adeline just smiled. "I see."

"What was he saying?" Hermione asked.

"He likes you," Adeline replied, and Draco scoffed.

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "That's preposterous."

Adeline frowned.

"Silly. Ridiculous."

"What she said," Draco added.

Adeline shrugged. "Okay. I believe you."

There was an awkward silence.

"So who you go to the ball with, Hermione and Ginny?" Adeline asked.

"I'm going with my boyfriend," Ginny said, "Harry Potter."

Adeline's eyes widened. "You date Harry Potter? Famous wizard?"

Ginny blushed. "Yes."

"You are very lucky!"

"Thank you."

"I hear he is very handsome."

"Well, I think so."

"Where he works now?"

"He's the head Auror at the British Ministry of Magic."

"Oh. That is a very big job."

"Yes, it is."

"Fantastique." Adeline smiled. "Who you go to the ball with, Hermione?"

"I'm not going with anyone," Hermione replied with a smile.

Adeline frowned. "Oh?"

"I don't really fancy going with anyone and all my friends have dates."

"Draco says you going with him."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed for the second time. "Malfoy!"

"Calm down, Granger. I meant that we were going in a group. Dans un _groupe_," he said, emphasizing the last sentence to Adeline.

"That means you have no date either, Draco?"

"Yes."

"Are you to ask your friends?"

"No, I don't want to go with anyone."

"You two should go together!"

"We are! In a group," Draco groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"As dates," Adeline said with an eye roll. "How many time I have to tell you?"

Hermione turned uncomfortably to Ginny who was clearly amused by all this.

"Dream on, Adeline," Draco told her.

"We're finished," Madam Malkin said. She seemed to have been finished a long time ago, Hermione noted to herself.

"Good. Thank you." Draco went back into the dressing room to change, and Madam Malkin retrieved Ginny's dress.

"Here you go, Ms. Weasley," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, Madam Malkin. Goodbye!"

"I hope to see you girls later."

"Bye Adeline," Ginny said with a wave.

"It was nice meeting you," Hermione added, and Adeline smiled.

"I will see you girls later I hope."

When the two witches went out, Hermione almost exploded. "Why is everyone pressuring me to go to the bloody ball with Draco Malfoy?"

"We just don't want you to go alone, and since Draco doesn't have a date either…"

"Doesn't mean we want to go together!" Hermione closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'll lay off."

"Tell everyone else to too."

"Okay." Ginny, eager to move on without actually meaning her words, slung her arm into Hermione's. "Do you want to go jewelry shopping now?"

Hermione sighed. "Why not."

And they Disapparated.

_"Look," he was saying, "I know you've been going out with that git for a year now, but be honest: how long do you think it's going to last?" _

_She shrugged. "It's lasted a year and three months. Our luck might run out soon." _

_"I hate to see you like this. You've been depressed and unhappy a lot, and you know it's affecting your work." _

_"Yes, I know. The Minister's called me a few times to ask me about it." _

_"You know you're not going to be happy with him." _

_She rolled her mug of butterbeer around. "Yes." _

_"And we've had such good times." _

_She smiled slightly. "Yes, I know." _

_"And…you know I still love you." Her eyes shot up and met his. "More than just a friend." _

_ "You do?" Her eyes were beginning to prickle unreasonably. _

_"Yes. I love you." _

_She bit her bottom lip and her eyebrows furrowed as she tried not to cry. She stared at the table, feeling emotions beginning to overwhelm her. "I haven't really heard that from anyone in a long time. My boyfriend says it, but he always says it in a rush, like a last minute thing. And I never see him anymore. He's either getting smashed at some pub or at his friend's house. And she's a girl." The tears were coming as she vented to her friend, and he came around the booth and put his arms around her. _

_"It'll be all right," he said awkwardly, and she shook her head. _

_"I don't think it will be." _

_"You're right. I don't think it will be either. But that's not what you want to hear, is it?" _

_She looked up at him, eyes wet. "No, it's not. But it's the truth. And sometimes I just need to hear the truth." _

_"I know I'm too blunt sometimes, and I'm sorry about that—"_

_She put a finger to his lips. "Don't be sorry," she said, and in a movement that seemed much too cliché, she kissed him. He reacted viscerally, arms coming behind her and pressing her to him. She pressed against him so that he backed up farther and farther till his back was sliding awkwardly against the seat backing. He put a stray hand behind him to keep himself from lying down, another in her hair. _

_She opened her mouth almost immediately, and he groaned as she pressed against him, tongue fierce and familiar in his mouth. His hand lowered till it was at her lower back, and then it was pressing against her bum, pressing her to his lower regions. She moved her hips and he broke the kiss to moan softly. Thank Merlin it was loud and noisy and crowded and they were in their own private corner. Thank Merlin she'd cast a sound-proof charm beforehand, as if foreseeing this situation. Thank Merlin she grabbed his head and smashed her lips against his, seeking his tongue once more. _

_And then she pulled back, hand going to her sore mouth. "My God, what am I doing?" she panted, and he, his eyes wider than they should be and pupils dilated, replied, _

_"I have no fucking clue, but it was amazing." _

_"Oh my God." She covered her face with her hands for a moment, and then she was scrambling to get away from him._

_"No, wait!" he cried, grabbing her back to him. She fell into him but was quick to right herself. _

_"No matter what, I still love him and you know that," she said. "It's just hard when I never see him anymore." _

_"I understand, I get it. I'm your bloody friend, I know you. We can put this behind us." _

_"Really?" _

_"Yeah, really. I know we're probably not meant to be together, even if that was the hottest bloody snog I've ever had with anyone." She smiled sheepishly. "But you love 'im, and I know that. You guys'll work things out. Unfortunately for me." _

_"Thank you so much for understanding. That's why I love you. As a friend." She embraced him fiercely, eyes watering again. _

_"I love you too. Now get out of here before someone sees," he said, grinning his goofy grin. _

_"I will." She picked up her purse and kissed his cheek before she departed. _

It was Monday, two days until the ball. Hermione was dragging herself to work. For the past 16 days, none of her friends had mentioned her going to the ball with Malfoy. Unfortunately, that resulted in bringing him _everywhere_ with them. Sixteen days was a long time for Hermione to keep up her animosity towards her former childhood enemy. She broke by the third day and allowed him to charm her. Figuratively, of course.

Hermione first noticed his demeanor. No longer did he hold himself as though he owned the world, but was humbler and respectful. He was quieter too, which seemed odd. Then again, maybe not, being with a bunch of loud and slightly obnoxious people that weren't his friends. She wondered if he ever felt like a tag-a-long, and if he minded.

But today was a horrible day. She was sick. And Hermione Granger only allows herself to get sick once a year. This, of course, was that one day.

Hermione coughed into her tissue, making the other man in the lift with her take a step away. She pretended not to notice and looked up at the numbers through her swollen eyelids. Thank Merlin hers was the second floor.

She stepped out quickly and made it to her office before another sneeze propelled her backwards into her chair. It would have been comical to an outsider, but to Hermione, it felt horrible. She blew her nose. Where was the Pepper Up when she needed it?

Hermione sniffed and rubbed her sore nose before looking at the paperwork her secretary had left on her desk. Great. And she had a really busy day today. Groaning, Hermione laid her head on the folders and sighed. She coughed.

"Hey," someone said with a knock on the door. Hermione looked up.

"Oh, hi Michael," she said, trying to put strength into her voice. She sat up straight.

"Um, just needed you to sign something for me."

"Sure, what is it?"

"A Howler. It's for this one thirteen year old, Terrence Macabee. He used a jelly-jinx curse."

"These kids," Hermione said, annoyed at that moment. Stupid kids. Irresponsible parents. She signed it and handed it back to Michael. "There you go."

"Thank you." He paused. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Not my best," Hermione confessed. "Just a little under the weather is all."

Michael nodded. "Feel better, Hermione."

"Thank you."

Michael left her office and Hermione dropped her head back onto her desk with a groan. Ten minutes later, Hermione was trying to muster enough self-motivation to get some work done when she was disturbed again. She groaned again.

"Hermione," came a voice, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly for a moment. She didn't have the patience to deal with Draco right now.

"Yes?" she asked wearily, not moving.

"I heard you were sick."

"Could you hear it in my voice?"

He ignored her remark and she heard his footsteps walking towards her on the carpeted floor. He put something on her wooden desk and she looked up. Pepper Up.

"Here. I had it in my office just in case."

"For me?"

"No, I'm going to take it away in five seconds so hurry up and take it off your desk," he said sarcastically. Her eyes were stinging, so she didn't bother rolling her eyes. She grabbed the potion off her desk and ingested it before she closed her eyes, waiting for the uncomfortable feeling of steam being blown out of her ears. When it passed, her sinuses were clear and she felt her headache gone. She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

"You're welcome," he replied. "Now the _real_ reason I'm here is to tell you that Potter, Harry, rather, wanted me to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"Will you be my date to the ball?"

He was blunt and without hesitation, something Hermione was surprised at. She was at a loss for words. She hadn't even entertained the thought of him asking her.

"I…I don't want to go with a date," she said slowly. "I'd rather just have fun with my friends without having to entertain a date."

Draco nodded once. "I understand. I completely understand how you feel. Potter and your friends have been telling me to ask you, so I did."

"Do you even want to go with me?"

"Of course I do."

"Besides the reason that I'm Hermione Granger?"

"Well, the reason I'd want to go with you would be _because_ you're Hermione Granger."

She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind. Well, I'll see you at the ball." He turned on his heel and stepped out of her office. He hadn't even seemed embarrassed at being rejected. Well, maybe rejected was too harsh a word. There was still so much she didn't know about Draco Malfoy. He was quite different from their school days. Hermione sighed and turned back to her work. Her eyes caught the empty Pepper Up container and she smiled slightly. He was secretly thoughtful, that was for sure.

Twelve-thirty found Hermione sitting in the Ministry diner trying to find something she hadn't eaten on the menu with her two best mates and their newest member. "What are you going to get?" Ron asked like he did every time they went out to eat. Hermione guessed it was probably from a lack of something better to say in the beginning.

"I'm not sure yet. I think I've eaten almost everything on this menu, we come here so often." She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. "How about you, Ron?"

"I'm going to get the steak pie," he said with a grin. Hermione smiled back.

"Feeling hungry today?"

"You have no idea," he groaned. "I didn't have breakfast."

"What a catastrophe."

"You know me."

She laughed. "Maybe too well." She turned back to her menu.

"What are you gonna get Draco?" Ron asked.

"I was thinking of either the pot pie or a turkey sandwich."

"Mm, pot pie sounds good," Hermione thought out loud, suddenly feeling hungry.

"I'm not feeling all that hungry, though. If I get it, do you want to share?"

Everyone paused to goad Hermione's answer. They were all surprised at Draco's offer, none more surprised than Hermione herself, but she tried not to show it. "Sure," she said. She wouldn't treat him any different than she'd treat anyone else.

"Okay." He put the menu down. "Have you eaten it before?"

"I'm sure I have, I just don't remember. Maybe I had the cottage pie. One of them was served quite large."

"I know the pot pies are served pretty big here." He tried to show it with his hands. His fingers were at least eleven inches away from each other. He grinned. "Around that big."

"You're joking," Hermione said, a grin coming to her lips.

"We'll have to see when it comes."

Draco was, in fact, exaggerating, but the pot pie was large enough and heavy enough to share. "I don't usually eat this for lunch," Hermione was saying as she tucked into it, "but I love pot pies. My mum used to make them at home for dinner sometimes." She put a forkful into her mouth. "Mmm." Her lips curved upward as she ate it. "Delicious," she declared after she'd swallowed and went for another piece. Draco chuckled.

"How's yours, Ron?" Hermione asked. "I guess I shouldn't ask since you get the same thing every time."

"No, not always the same thing. Sometimes I get a mince meat pie, sometimes steak and kidney…"

"Practically the same thing, then." She grinned at him playfully and looked over at Harry's food. "What did you get?"

"The cottage pie. Not the best here."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You want to try some of ours?"

"Merlin, Granger, are you their mother or something?" Draco scoffed.

Hermione ignored his tone. "Just a best friend," she said lightly and put a forkful of pie onto Harry's plate. "It's really good," she told Harry who agreed once he'd had some. Then Ron wanted in too.

In the end, Harry successfully returned his plate in exchange for a pot pie served to him by the chef himself (it was sort of a big deal that _the_ _Harry Potter _didn't like his cottage pie). When they attempted to go back to their respective offices, all of them were feeling extra sleepy.

"I probably shouldn't have eaten so much," Harry groaned, and Hermione nodded.

"I'm there with you, Harry."

"As am I," Ron piped up. "I don't want to do work!"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "This sounds like our Hogwarts days, doesn't it?"

"Except this is real life and not doing homework could mean losing our jobs." Ron sighed. "So difficult sometimes."

"No, not really. Easier, actually," Harry said.

"Says you," Hermione said and playfully stuck her tongue out at him. Harry rolled his green eyes at her good-naturedly.

"Are you all going to continue chatting or shall we actually get to work?" Draco asked, pressing the lift button that hadn't been pressed till right then. The lift started moving.

"I didn't even notice," Ron confessed, a little surprised.

"That's because you were moaning and groaning about your stomach," Hermione said, poking him. He glared.

"It's sensitive, you know."

She rolled her eyes. "Right."

The lift came to a stop to their floor and they all piled out. "Well," Ron sighed dramatically, "I guess we're going to have to work now."

"How'd you figure that?" Hermione asked innocently, and he playfully punched her arm. Hermione turned then and noticed Draco watching their exchange with intense grey eyes. She smiled at him. "Have a good day at work, Draco. Try not to fall asleep."

He nodded and she slipped passed him, pecked a friendly kiss to Harry's cheek, and walked away to her office without a glance backwards.

Genna was sitting right outside her office as usual, but she was eating a sandwich and doing her work. "Hi Genna," Hermione greeted her warmly. "Did you go to lunch?"

"There's too much work to do," Genna replied without meeting her employer's eyes.

"Oh." She wondered if it was because of Ron that she wasn't going out to lunch anymore. "Well, if you need to talk to anyone about anything—"

"Are you and Ron going out again?" she blurted out. Hermione probably should've expected the question, but she was surprised by it anyway.

"No," she reassured her. "We haven't gone out in awhile."

Genna nodded. "The way your last break-up went, I thought maybe you were pursuing him again because he's not—" Genna's blue eyes suddenly widened and she looked down quickly.

"What?" Hermione asked, cocking her head to the side.

"N-nothing." Genna busied herself again. "I'm sorry, Ms. Granger, but I'm very busy." She stuffed a large piece of her sandwich into her mouth. Hermione frowned at her secretary's strange behaviour but thought nothing more of it once she entered her office. Genna did have her moments.

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><p><em>AN: So much information! Yes, I rather enjoyed this chapter. Lots of cryptic speech in here...and of course, you've got to love Hermione's relationship with Harry and Ron. Especially Ron. Even if I don't like them as a couple, I like their friendship. Writing it, anyway. Well, even if you don't read this A/U, REMEMBER TO REVIEW! Because that's what authors live for: feedback! And love. Lots of love. Which I will return in response to your reviews. Review! And thank you for reading this very long chapter and this demanding author's note! :) P.S. Fair warning. My chapters are going to get longer, starting with this little chappie. And if you're confused by the italics in between, hopefully by the end it'll make sense! It's all a part of the "mystery."_


	4. The Ball  Part 1

_**A/U: Eee! My favourite scene has come! Yes, ladies and gents, the moment I have been waiting to share with you! Now you've got to tell me how you like it. Pretty please with sugar and fluff on top! I'll love you so much if you do. It's SO long that I had to split it into two chapters. Two chapters of goody goodness! Alright, alright, I'm getting rather carried away with this. Now I hope your expectations aren't extremely high now that I'm buttered up your image of it now. Well, just tell me how you like it, and I'll be grateful! And let me know where you think this is heading. :) **_

_**Reviews feed writers the motivation needed to write! Feed a writer (me) today! (Sorry, don't stone me now. On with the chapter!)**_

* * *

><p><em>There was a knock on her door. "Are you in there?" came a male voice.<em>

"_Yes," she answered, congested. She blew her nose and opened the door. _

_He looked at her flannel pajamas before his eyes moved back up to her face. "Are you sick?" _

"_Genius, you." _

_He grinned and closed the door. "I had a feeling when your friend told me you weren't at work." _

"_He told you?" She sniffed and blew her nose again. _

"_We're almost friends, don't you know." _

_Her laugh turned into a hacking cough. "Yeah right," she gasped. _

"_Come on, get to bed." _

"_Ugh. I don't want to." _

_He checked her medicine cabinet. "Why do you never have Pepper Up in your flat?" _

"_I always forget to buy it," she replied, going to bed as ordered. She pulled the comforter up to her chin, sudden chills racking her body. _

"_You're lucky you have me," he called from her kitchen. "Your temporarily unemployed boyfriend." Her throat hurt too much to respond. "I'll go get some. I'll be right back." _

_The door closed and she was alone for another few minutes before she heard him let himself in. _

"_You didn't lock the door on your way out?" she asked. _

" '_Course I did. Wouldn't want any Death eaters coming in and taking advantage of your vulnerable state!" He entered her room, a paper bag in his hands. "I used the key you gave me." When he spoke of it, his eyes sparkled. She smiled before coughing. _

"_Good." _

_He pulled a Pepper Up potion out of the bag. "Here," he said, handing it to her. "And I bought you five more just in case." _

"_Thank you," she said, and sneezed before she inhaled the potion. Steam came out of her ears for a moment and then the uncomfortable feeling passed. Her congestion was gone and she felt much better. "Thank you," she repeated. "I feel loads better." _

_He grinned and put the bag on the night table beside her bed. "Good." He leant forward and lay on top of her and kissed her face all over. She laughed. _

"_It doesn't mean I'm totally healed. I might still be carrying the bug." _

"_I don't care," he murmured in between kisses. She kissed him properly. _

"_You'll regret it when you're sick." _

_But he didn't a week later when he was in bed coughing and sneezing up a storm. She stopped by his house with Pepper Up. _

"_Regret it now?" she asked, smiling. She handed him a glass of water and the potion. _

"_You know I don't." He sneezed and took the potion. "That's so much better," he said after a moment. _

"_Good." She kissed his flushed cheek. "But I won't risk getting sick again." _

"_Fine," he groaned, and she climbed over him and onto the other side of the bed where they lay side-by-side, talking about everything. They always were great conversationalists. _

There was a knock on Hermione's door the day of the ball. Harry and Ron waltzed in. Hermione's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Hello Hermione," they said with a grin.

"What's up?" she asked immediately, and they both came over and sat down in the leather chairs in front of her desk.

"So the ball's tonight," Harry began.

"No, I will not go with Malfoy," Hermione groaned. "For the last time!"

Ron sighed. "See, I told you, mate. She's said no a billion times."

"Not a billion," Harry replied.

"Want me to make it a billion?" Hermione demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"No, of course not," Harry replied, hands raised in surrender. "Actually, I wasn't going to ask you to be Draco's date."

"We weren't?" Ron asked in surprise.

"_No_, Ron. Well, maybe you were, but I was going to ask what you're wearing." At Hermione's shocked expression, he quickly added, "Ginny's orders."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "First of all, I went dress shopping with Ginny so she would know. Second of all, you're not going to make me match with Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed. "For Merlin's sake, give it a rest! Now get out and let me work."

"_See_ mate? I told you Hermione wouldn't—"

"Oh, shut up. Hermione, we'll see you at the ball then."

"Okay. Bye guys. Thanks for your concern, but really, I can take care of myself."

"Right." Harry grinned. "See you later."

"Bye 'mione," Ron added, and Hermione waved and the door shut closed. For Merlin's sakes!

After work, Hermione went home immediately to get ready for the ball. The Ministry had released its employees earlier for the day so they could prepare for the ball themselves. It started at 7 p.m., so Hermione only had two hours to get dressed and made up. She showered quickly and brought out the three bottles of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion she had purchased just for this occasion. She went to work. An hour later, her hair was smooth and piled up on her head in a twist. She smiled at her reflection and then rushed to put makeup on and her dress robes. By the time she was finished, it was exactly 7:01. It never hurt to be fashionably late.

Hermione put diamond studs into her ears and wore a simple necklace. She didn't like to be ostentatious with her jewelry. A ring was put on as well, and then she deemed herself ready after agonising in front of the mirror for another fifteen minutes, wondering if she looked all right. She grabbed her cloak and her clutch before Apparating to Hogwarts. The large tent had been set up in front of her old school. It was still in ruins, but Neville had been right. It looked much better than it had before.

Hermione entered the white tent that stood out against the black Hogwarts castle and entered the cloak room to hang up her outer wear. It was only her luck that she met Draco Malfoy in there. He stuck out a hand for her cloak and she gave it to him and watched him hang it up.

"Thank you," she said.

"Just arrived?" he replied. He seemed to have a knack for stating the obvious.

"Yes. I'm assuming you did too?"

"Yes." He turned to look at her full on. "You look lovely," he said, and Hermione smiled at the compliment.

"Thank you. As do you."

He grinned and stuck out his arm. "May I take the lovely lady out for a dance after the dinner?"

Hermione hesitated. Did she really want to? Honestly?

"I should save it for Harry and Ron," she replied. "Got to make an entrance, you know, us war heroes."

"Oh, I don't think they'll mind."

Hermione felt awkward. "Oh, well…"

"You don't have to explain yourself. I understand." He nodded. "I'll see you at our table." He walked out the door. His nonchalance made Hermione feel terrible. She had half a mind to run after him and agree to a dance (after all, one dance wouldn't hurt), but it would be silly, seeing as she didn't know if she really wanted to in the first place. Oh well. What was done was done.

She followed him out the door after greeting a coworker that had just entered with his date. Hermione found her friends quickly and walked over to them. She exchanged hugs and kisses with them all and smiled, uttering a "You look beautiful!" and exchanging "beautiful" with "dashing" when the occasion called.

She sat down at their circular table next to Neville, her stomach grumbling in hunger. She talked to Neville as the others began to take their seats as well. Someone sat down next to her, but she didn't pay attention to them until her conversation with Neville ended with a laugh. Then she turned to her other neighbor who was, believe it or not, Draco Malfoy. What were the odds. Knowing Harry and Ron, the odds were probably in the favour of Draco&Hermione. Rubbish.

"Hello again Draco," she said with a smile. She'd try to be pleasant. After all, the past was the past, though the ball did nothing to encourage that fact.

"Hello Hermione. Hungry?"

"Starving, actually. Better be careful, I might eat your tie." She grinned. She had half-expected to see him wearing an emerald green one (represent Slytherin and all that) but he was just wearing a plain, skinny black one. It matched his frame. "Not very imaginative with them, are you?" She poked it and smiled. He looked down at it.

"No, dressing up like Potter isn't really my style." It was then that Hermione noticed Harry's green tie. She grinned.

"You could've matched with him. Then everyone would've pegged you two as dates."

"My worst nightmare," he groaned.

"You know you dream about it secretly," she teased.

"I can't even joke about that." He shivered. "Definitely my worst nightmare."

"Oh don't be so stiff." She swatted his arm good-naturedly. "Enjoy yourself. Laugh a little."

"I don't laugh."

Hermione smiled for him.

"Right. And I'm not Hermione Granger."

"Then who are you?"

"Hermione Granger."

Draco smiled and shook his head. "I suppose I will never understand you."

"Maybe not." She shrugged and took a sip of water. Ron had disappeared earlier but came back now with drinks in his hands. He'd brought another witch along with him, Hannah Abbot. Hermione didn't know her very well, but enough that she knew Ron wasn't interested in her. She had been the quiet, intelligent classmate back at Hogwarts, not exactly Ron's type. Well, besides the intelligent part.

"Guys, there's an open bar just across the hall," he said excitedly as he handed Hannah a drink.

The table erupted into temporary excitement as several of them got up to serve themselves. Draco turned to his companion. "Care for a drink?"

"Why certainly," she replied with an air of faux formality. "A glass of red wine will do."

"Not champagne? It is a celebratory ball, after all."

"I'm more of a wine person."

Draco nodded and disappeared along with most of her friends. Hermione watched Ron talk with Hannah for a bit before he disappeared again. Ron was a bit of a heavy drinker but had a high tolerance, something that she appreciated very much. He wasn't quite himself when he was drunk.

When he was gone, she struck up a conversation with his date. "Hannah," she called. "I haven't seen you since our Hogwarts days! How are you?"

Hannah smiled. "I've been great. I've got a job under Madam Rosmerta at the Three Broomsticks."

"That's fantastic!" Hermione gushed. "I've always loved that pub."

"Yes, it's a great place to work. I don't get paid very much, but I honestly like the work so much better. And Madam Rosmerta is very nice to me. I couldn't imagine myself working in the Ministry." She paused. "But you do, don't you?"

Hermione nodded. "I work in the department of improper use of magic."

"Head of your division, right?" the quiet girl added with a smile.

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"I don't know of anyone who hasn't heard," she said kindly, "but Ron told me. You, Ron, and Harry have all pretty much taken over that department." She smiled to show she was teasing.

Hermione smiled back. "Yes. I guess we just didn't get enough of keeping the world from going to the dogs."

Hannah laughed and the food suddenly appeared on their plates as their companions came back.

"Hermione's a riot, isn't she?" Ron commented, grinning at his best mate as he handed Hannah another flute. "Oh, food!"

"She's wonderful," Hannah replied as she put the flute to the side. She still hadn't finished her first one. Draco came back as well and handed Hermione her drink.

"What took you?" she asked. "I was dying of thirst here." She received the wine glass gratefully and sipped it before she tucked into her meal.

"Talking the Minister," Draco replied. He'd gotten a whisky on the rocks. He began cutting into his filet. "Wanted me to make a speech. He thought it'd be a good way to emphasise the fact that Death eaters are people too and can be reformed." He sipped his drink. Hermione found herself not surprised that he didn't wince at the taste.

"That does sound like a good idea," she had to admit. "Kingsley's always full of good ideas when it comes to getting the wizarding world back on its feet."

"Yeah. Forgive and move on, his motto."

"Yes. It's a good motto to have."

Draco nodded and knocked back half his glass.

"You drink a lot?" she asked before putting a forkful of fish into her mouth.

"I try not to," he replied. "But I can."

"I'm assuming your preferred drink is scotch whisky?" she asked, gesturing to his glass with her head.

"No. That's like assuming that your food of choice is salmon," he said, indicating her plate.

"Touché."

"I'm a big fan of mead and wine. But don't tell anyone. Got to act big and tough with all you Gryffindors."

Hermione just smiled and put her wine glass down. "Your secret's safe with me. Mostly." She looked over where the live band was playing. The violinist was playing a sweet and soft melody. Hermione appreciated it immensely. "I've always wanted to play the violin," she said aloud. "Though my mum told me she'd die if I did. They never sound good in the beginning, what with all that screeching." She smiled, and her eyes went to Draco's.

"I was never really interested in instruments when I was a kid since my dad wasn't. Had to be exactly like my father." He chewed his steak.

"You never really realise that your parents aren't perfect when you're a kid," she said thoughtfully, staring aimlessly at the band. "They're supposed to never let you down, and then they do and it's like the world's crashing down on you."

"Mine almost did."

Hermione didn't reply and continued to eat. What was there to say? "All of ours almost did," she whispered after she swallowed. "And we come here to be reminded of it, to never forget. It's a celebration of victory, but also a painful reminder that the memories of the war will never go away."

"Do you expect them to?" His gaze was incredulous, his eyes uncertain. Eyes that had seen too much, just like her.

"No." She cleared her throat and cut her fish again. She was being much too serious with him. "No, I suppose I didn't." She took a long drink from her wine glass. She wanted to stopper her throat before more serious words come out. Maybe indulging in an alcoholic drink wasn't the way to do it.

Her tongue continued without her permission. "It's only the third year of the war, and they want us to be celebrating still? Celebrating our victory, but…maybe I'm just holding onto memories too tightly, but…" She let out a shuddered breath.

"I know." He swallowed. "I know."

She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes for a moment to get a reign on her emotions. A comforting hand went to her shoulder, an attempt to soothe her. She had promised herself she wouldn't cry this time. Not this time.

"Buck up, Hermione," he said softly. "Your friends are going to start hounding you."

Hermione let out a little laugh and opened her eyes. "You're right."

He smirked. "I'd like to hear that out of your mouth again. I'm what?"

"Shove it," she said, smiling through her watering eyes. She sniffed and took another deep breath.

"You going to be okay?" he asked after another nip of whisky.

"Yes, I think so." She wiped her eyes and went to her little pocket mirror to make sure her makeup hadn't smeared. She closed it and sniffed again. "I'll be okay." She turned to him. "Will you be okay?"

"I'm not the one tearing up."

"But will you be?"

He paused. "I'm not really sure what you mean by that."

Hermione smiled. "Maybe it's too early in our relationship to ask you that."

"What?"

His confusion made Hermione laugh. "Never mind."

Draco shook his head and finished off his scotch. "Another?" he asked her, and she shook her head.

"I'll be fine."

He nodded and got up. As Hermione finished off half of her fish, the Minister went up to the platform and Hermione's eyes automatically searched for Harry. He was in the shadows next to the steps of the stage, prepping himself up for his annual speech. Hermione and Ron had, perhaps wisely, declined the Minister's invitation to speak at these balls every year, but Harry really hadn't had much of a choice. So he said, anyway. Hermione had only heard of how influential Kingsley could get, and she didn't doubt it. Still, it was a lot of pressure to go up on a stage and speak in front of hundreds of people without mucking it up.

Hermione turned to Ron and, when she caught his eye, pointed towards Harry. He nodded and they both got up and went to him. They had made it a private tradition between themselves that they would be with him before all of his speeches until he had to go up in front of the world. He wouldn't have to face them alone like he had his entire life. Ron and Hermione made sure that they let him know that his two best mates would be with him every time.

"Hey Harry," Hermione whispered, ignoring the Minister. "How you doing?"

"I'm okay, thanks," he said with a smile. He pushed his glasses higher onto his nose.

"You got this, mate?" Ron asked, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Don't I always?" He grinned at them both.

"What are you going to say?" Hermione asked.

"What I say pretty much every year. The war impacted _all_ of us and we're here to celebrate the fact that we all made it out alive. Despite the experiences we went through and the deaths that we saw, we're going to make it. We're going to make it."

Hermione hugged him. "Harry, even though I know you don't like making speeches often, I have to say you're damn good at it."

"Agreed," Ron said with a grin.

"Thanks guys," Harry chuckled.

"We'll be supporting you right here," she said with a grin, and Harry smiled.

"Just like the past two years."

"And every year that comes," Ron added.

"I have the best mates ever," Harry said, trying not to let emotion overwhelm him right before he walked out onto the platform.

"Yeah, yeah, so do we," Ron said, and they shared a quiet laugh.

"—and now, join me in welcoming our hero to the stage. Mr. Harry Potter!" Kingsley said onstage, and the whole tent began to applaud. Everyone stood as they had in the years prior, and Hermione again felt that swell of intense gratitude and respect for the dark-haired man before her.

"You'll do great," she whispered as he walked away from them and went up. She watched him shake hands with Kingsley and then Ron put an arm around her shoulders. She rested her head against him at a familiar angle as they watched Harry make his speech.

It moved everyone as usual. In a few years he'd have to change it, but for now it was enough. Nearly everyone in the room had experienced the war firsthand and it made Harry's speech very personal to each of them.

Everyone stood and applauded again as Harry walked down the stage to the embrace of his friends.

"You were great," Hermione said, feeling teary-eyed again.

"Don't cry again, Hermione," Ron laughed. "We're going to have to make that a yearly tradition too."

"Shut up." She rested her head on Harry's shoulder and sniffled.

"It's okay," Harry said, rubbing her back.

"Harry, you were great," came Ginny's voice, and Hermione released him for his girlfriend. She wiped her eyes and Ron put an arm around her again to lead her back to the table. They smiled at each other and Hermione put her arms around his waist before she could let him sit down.

"I don't know what I'd do without you Ron," she whispered into his chest, and he rubbed her back.

"Not survive, apparently."

Hermione pulled back and slapped his arm with a teary laugh. "Shut up."

"Looks like Harry and Ginny are opening up the dance floor," he said, glancing over her. "Shall we join them?"

"Of course." She took his outstretched hand and when they turned, she saw Draco looking at them with an intensely focused expression on his face. She smiled at him and touched his shoulder as they passed.

Stretching up to Ron's height was difficult as they danced. He kept laughing at her as Hermione tried to keep her toes from being crushed by his feet. "You're a terrible dancer," she pouted, and he grinned.

"It's all part of the charm, love," he replied, twirling her around. Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't I know it."

They danced in silence till the song ended, and Draco came up and put a hand on Ron's broad shoulder.

"Might I take her for a spin?" he asked, and Ron grinned, handing Hermione's hand to him.

"She's all yours, mate," he said, and left her.

It wasn't that Hermione _didn't_ want to dance with her former enemy, but the fact that he was acting all…aloof and emotional and quiet with such un-Malfoy characteristics threw her off. Hermione didn't like to be thrown off. But she had to admit; she did enjoy his company. Occasionally.

"That was some speech Potter gave there," he said, unable to bring himself to mention Harry's given name.

"Yes, it was. He's quite good at those. Speeches, I mean."

"Yes, I know. I was here last year too." He grinned. "I think he might've used the same one."

"Not the same exact one."

"Okay, one similar. People still love him though."

"Got that right." She grinned. Draco was the total opposite of her ex-boyfriend when it came to dancing. He was smooth and almost graceful. She didn't even have to be aware of where her feet went. He seemed to pay extra attention to his feet so he wouldn't step on hers.

"Did you take dancing lessons?" she asked.

"Mother taught me," he replied. "She thought every respectable pure-blood had to know how to dance like this."

Hermione nodded. "I would have loved dancing lessons."

"Well, here's lesson number 1. Pay attention to your feet. Perhaps you haven't realised, but your feet are going mad down there. I've almost stepped on them four times."

Hermione laughed. "I apologise. They do have a mind of their own."

"I'll count for you," Draco said with a grin. He leant in closer to her ear. "One, two, three. One, two, three…" He chanted according to the beat of the music. His warm, whisky-touched breath ruffled the tendrils of hair hanging loose from its place and tickled her ear. It warmed her and sent chills running across her skin. Her hand suddenly felt numb in his.

She closed her eyes, allowing him to guide her as her feet obeyed his breathy counts. His masculine voice washed over her and she swallowed. She hadn't felt like this since…since Ron. Did that mean…she was probably attracted to him…Harry and Ron would probably be…she couldn't even think coherently.

The song ended before she lost her mind completely and she raised her head and looked at him. "Thank you," she said, and his grey eyes lingered on her painted mouth for a moment before going back to her eyes.

"You're welcome," he said softly, and she pulled away quickly and started walking back to their table when someone stopped her.

"May I have this dance?" Neville Longbottom asked, and she couldn't say no.

She danced for another hour or so before she could feel the bottoms of her feet blistering in her heels, her throat parched. Justin Finch-Fletchey, her last dance partner, helped her to her seat and she collapsed into it. He brought her a cool glass of wine as she downed the water glass that was still sitting on her table.

"Thank you, Justin," she said with a smile. He smiled back and walked back to his date.

As Hermione attempted to fan her flushed cheeks with her napkin, she scanned the dance floor. She saw Ron dancing with Hannah and her heart dropped a little. She let her brown eyes linger on him. She was probably still in love with him. He threw his head back and laughed, and she could hear it in her ears as if he were laughing at her sarcastic comments. If she were being honest, she missed being his girlfriend.

"Still pining after Ronald, hm?" Draco asked, and Hermione almost jumped.

"No," she said quickly. The flush from dancing for so long hid her blush.

"I see," he replied.

"You're back soon," she noted as she began to eat the other half of her meal.

"Yeah. Didn't have anything to do and my steak was going cold."

"Was it really worth going back to?"

Draco poked its tough skin with his fork. "No. This steak is shit."

Hermione laughed. "I got it last year and it was terrible. I didn't have high hopes for it this year either. The salmon's decent."

"Let me try some. Just so I can be sure I want to order it next year."

Hermione moved back into her chair as he reached over and stabbed a piece of her fish. She watched him bring it to his mouth and chew it contemplatively.

"You're right," he stated and stole another forkful.

"Hey! That's my food," Hermione said, and he smirked.

"Feed a starving bloke," he said, putting his hand over his heart, and she rolled her eyes.

"You practically inhaled three-quarters of your food."

"That's because I was hungry."

"You shouldn't be hungry anymore then."

"Look at me, Granger. I'm a tall man. I need to be fed more than this measly piece of meat." He stabbed at it with his fork and smiled at her. "Be kind to a poor, hungry soul?"

In response, Hermione slowly and tantalisingly brought her fork of salmon to her mouth and chewed it slowly, making sure it was all in Draco's face. "Mmm," she said as she chewed. She swallowed, smirking as he glared at her. "No," she replied, and he took that opportunity to steal another piece with his fork and shove it into his mouth. "Hey!"

He covered his mouth and laughed. "That's what you get!"

"Why you—!"

It was difficult for him to swallow and laugh at her at the same time, but somehow he managed. "Oh, come off it Granger. You have a heart for weaker things. In this sense, I'm weaker than you." He wiped his mouth.

She shook her head. "Your act of desperation only amuses me." She ate the rest of her fish without looking up at her companion.

"I suppose this just means I'm going to have to have dinner alone tonight," he sighed, and, even though she knew he was just goading her, she felt a slight pang of sympathy in her heart.

"Dinner alone?" Harry said, suddenly appearing, and Hermione almost groaned. Of course he would hear that. "Last year we all went out to eat after the ball at a 24-hour diner in London." He leant forward. "Don't let the Minister know we don't like his food. It would probably take a shit-load out of the Minsitry's budget if they tried to please my taste buds." He grinned.

"He's gotten so picky with food," Ginny said behind him with a groan. "It's hard to deal with since I can eat anything."

Hermione laughed. "I love you Gin."

"Why don't we go out to eat again?" Harry offered. "By eleven I'll be pretty hungry myself."

"Sounds like a brilliant idea," Ron called from across the table. "Hannah and I want in." Hannah was too busy talking to Neville to speak for herself. Ron looked over at them and then back at Harry. "Neville too." He grinned.

"Hermione, you in?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Draco?"

"Sure."

"Great! I'll let Luna and the others know."

"Speaking of which, have you seen her at all during the ball?" Hermione asked.

There was an awkward silence.

"I saw her in the beginning before the ball and then briefly during Harry's speech, but after that…" Ginny said, trailing off. There was a long pause as each tried to remember where they'd last seen her.

"I haven't seen her at all," Hermione said. "I don't even know what colour her dress is."

"It's white with silver sparkles on it. It's lovely, but I'd like you to see it yourself."

"I'm sure she'll pop up sometime," Harry said. "She always does. We'll probably see her when we're about to leave."

"Who did she come with?"

"Neville."

All eyes turned to him and Ron poked Hannah who alerted Neville of this.

"What?" he asked, turning red only as Neville could in the limelight.

"Have you seen Luna?"

"Not since we came here together, no."

"You haven't seen your date?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Well, not since the speeches, no. She said she 'ad something to do, something with Nargles or the like. There was apparently some bloke that she saw with a bad case of 'em and she went to chase 'em away."

Ginny turned slowly to look at Hermione. "You don't think…"

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "Luna wouldn't do that."

"She wouldn't what?" Neville asked. "What?"

"Luna's not going out with anyone is she?"

"Not that I know of…"

"Oh my God! She is!" Ginny squealed, and Hermione frowned.

"Ginny, don't jump to conclusions. You can ask her when you see her. _Tactfully_."

The younger witch just smiled. "Gotcha. Come on Harry, let's dance."

"But I'm—"

"Let's _dance_."

Harry groaned as he allowed Ginny to drag him to the dance floor again.

"You want to dance?" Draco asked, turning to Hermione and standing.

"I'd—"

"I'm going to drag you like Ginny did."

Hermione laughed. "I'd like to see you as forceful as Ginny."

"I may not have a forceful personality, but I am bigger and stronger than you." He smirked. "I'll carry you all the way there."

Hermione glared. "You wouldn't dare."

"Not if you come willingly, mademoiselle," he said with a little bow.

"Fine." She sighed and put her hand in his and walked to the crowded dance floor with him.

Hermione was stiff and awkward in his arms as they danced. She looked down at her feet, not wanting to be reminded of their last dance. "What's up with you?" Draco asked. He twirled her and she landed back in his arms.

"Nothing," she replied.

"I know you like dancing so I don't know why you're all stiff. Is it because you're dancing with me?"

"No, no. I just…have a lot on my mind."

"Loosen up," Draco replied, twirling her again. This time she was forced to look at him.

"I'll try. I'm not good with letting loose."

"I can see that." He grinned and his hand slid down to the small of her back. In response, her foot came down on his. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, pulling back. Hermione blinked innocently.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said, and he glared at her.

"Like hell you are."

Hermione covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Not funny. These are dragon-hide Italian boots. And now you've got your print on them."

"Just be glad it wasn't the actual heel." She smiled. "I apologise to your poor shoes."

"You should apologise to my foot."

"I'll save that for the next time."

He narrowed his eyes at her but took her back into his arms nonetheless.

"We're dancing. And this time, try not to be so clumsy."

Hermione grinned. "I can't promise anything."

"You know it can go both ways," he replied, and she narrowed her eyes.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

He smirked and she glared as they danced, oblivious to everyone else.

"Hermione," he said slowly, his expression falling into seriousness.

"Yes?"

"You look really nice tonight."

Hermione frowned, confused. "What?"

"I said you look nice tonight."

"Thank you, I guess. So do you."

He bowed his head in thanks. "Look, I don't want us to keep having this…animosity between us. I don't really know why you don't like me—"

"Besides the obvious reasons?"

"—and even though we've been getting along recently, I know you'd rather not. But I want to give our friendship a try. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of each other if Potter has anything to say about it."

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip. "Fair enough."

"So. Friends?"

"I can't promise anything, but I'll give it a go." She smiled and he smiled back.

Their dance continued in silence after that, and they parted once it finished. "Thank you for the dance, madam."

He bowed.

"You're very welcome sir."

She curtsied.

And Hermione was swept up by Harry and Draco went back to his drink.


	5. The Ball Part 2

_They were walking through the shops holding hands. There weren't many people there that afternoon which was somewhat odd for Diagon Alley._

"_Let's stop in here for a bit," he said, his breath frosty in the cold. _

"_Oh, not another Quidditch shop," she groaned. _

"_What? You know how much I like Quidditch." _

"_Yes, but do we always have to come here?" _

"_Well, yes. It is the only Quidditch shop around here." _

"_Can we not go this time? Please?" _

"_But…look at that broom! And the Chudley Cannons—"_

"_I hear enough about the Chudley Cannons." She glared; he glared. _

"_Fine." _

_They continued on their walk. They came to a large crowd in front of Flourish & Blotts. Another unusual scene. _

"_Oh! Look! There's a book signing going on. Who is it? Can you see?" _

_Her boyfriend was much taller so he had more of an advantage. He went onto his toes to look passed all the people. "Looks like Beezus Radconary." _

"_Beezus Radconary?" _

"_Yes." He looked down at the ecstatic girl. _

"_I want to get a book signed by her!" _

_He frowned. "You don't have any books by Beezus Radconary." _

"_Yes I do!" _

"_Name one." _

_She paused. "She wrote a textbook." Her shrill, excited voice had gone down in thought. _

"_What textbook?" _

"_Something about potions." _

"_Come off it. You know you haven't read any books from her." _

"_Yes I have! I _have_ read a book by her. Don't look at me like that! I have, I swear!" _

"_Okay. What was it about?" _

"_It was about magical creatures that came out at night and ransacked the human kind and caused witch and wizard to turn against each other; a fictional read of course." _

"_That was Beezee Rumbleberry." _

"_How do you know?" _

"_You made me read it with you, remember?" _

"_Right." _

"_Beezus Radconary did write a textbook—"_

"_Ha! I told you!" _

"—_on dark magic." He paused, taking in her dimmed expression. "She was a staunch pureblood during the first war who believed muggles needed to be sacrificed for the better of mankind." _

"_What the bloody hell? Why is she doing a book signing then?" _

"_She recently came back into the wizarding world with her new book _Muggles and the Places They Go_. It's honestly the stupidest thing I've ever read, but the critics went mad for it. Good for the muggle image, or whatever." _

"_Oh." _

_He chuckled. "Why were you so excited to see an author that you've never even heard of before?" _

"_I thought she was Beezee Rumbleberry." _

"_Don't lie to me. You just wanted an excuse to go into Flourish & Blotts." _

_She sighed. "How can I lie to you?" _

"_Good question." He leant down and kissed her cheek. "How about we agree on Honeydukes as our happy medium?" _

"_I can live with that." She smiled and kissed him before they went on their way. _

At eleven o'clock, Harry came to collect them all. Draco had been hanging around the table for most of the time, mingling a bit when people came to talk to him, which wasn't often. He mostly received strange looks and a few glares. Ron had been the belle of the ball, talking to everyone, dancing with everyone, and receiving his praise warmly. Hermione had danced quite a lot, though she had tired quickly and spent a lot of time at the punch bowl talking to people. Harry had entertained Ginny all night, wanting to spend it with his loved one rather than the people that were awed by him. Hannah and Neville had really hit it off and Hermione was almost sure that Hannah was blushing madly at more than one point.

Luna reappeared at the table when the clock struck eleven and she smiled at them all. "Hello. Have you all been having a lovely time?"

"Yes, most definitely," most of them answered.

"Where have you been Luna?"

"I was interviewing Dean Thomas for _The Quibbler_ because he said he had a garden of Nargles."

"You snogged him, didn't you?" Ginny accused, grinning madly.

"Afterwards, yes. He's very nice." Luna checked her neon-yellow watch. "It's eleven o'one. Shall we go soon?"

Everyone was in slight shock at Luna's unhesitant confession even though they really shouldn't have.

"Uh, well then," Harry muttered, recovering first. "Shall we get going?"

"Um, yes," Hermione replied, shaking her head.

"Right. Well, we'll go out and Apparate there. Everyone know where it is?" A few responded in the negative. "Well, grab onto someone who does."

Once they were outside, Draco predictably showed up at Hermione's side. "Shall we go, then?" he asked.

"I suppose." They held hands and she Disapparated.

They arrived at the diner first and he appraised it, hands in his pockets. "Looks friendly, it does," he said sarcastically.

She didn't reply but went in and asked for a table. They sat down at a large booth and Hermione pulled out a menu. Her stomach rumbled. "Merlin, I'm hungry. That salmon didn't do much."

"That steak didn't do it for me either. Either they need to invite less people to those functions or order better food."

"I'd be happy not attending."

"Hate it that much, do you?"

"Yes."

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Hannah came through the door followed quickly by Neville.

"Sorry," Harry said. "We were caught up by the Minister."

"Same thing happened last year too," Ginny commented.

"Kingsley's a great man," Harry continued. Nobody could argue with that.

They all climbed into the booth. "So, what's everyone feeling tonight?"

"Fish and chips," Ron said carelessly, having a little trouble with his menu. It was obvious that he was a little more than off the edge of sobriety.

"That sounds good," Luna said with a nod, and Neville and Hannah were too into their own conversation to pay attention to the others.

"Whatch you gettin' Hannah?" Ron asked.

"Oh, um…" She grabbed her abandoned menu quickly and scanned through the items. Neville was doing the same. "I think I might get the fish 'n chips."

"Yeah, me too," Neville echoed.

"Me too!" Ron said with a grin. "Glad we're all on the same page."

"I think I might try their cottage pie," Hermione said slowly.

"Right now?" Ron asked, turning to her. She suppressed a smile.

"Yes, now," his best friend replied.

"Honestly, you have a stomach the size of a beluga whale."

"What?"

"What?"

"What did you just say to me?"

"I didn't say anything to you." He looked innocent. Too innocent.

"Are you drunk or something?"

"No, of course not. Why ever would you think so?" He grinned and hid behind his menu. Hermione laughed. When he was drunk, she couldn't take his comments to heart. They hardly made sense. It only made her wonder how much he'd drunk and why she hadn't noticed.

"I'm going to get a pumpkin pasty," Harry said loudly, and Ron popped his head back up, unable to keep from commenting.

"Who asked you, oh Chosen One?" he asked, and Harry made a face at him.

"_I_ did," Ginny said, touching Harry's arm, and Ron turned away and made a disgusted face.

"Thank you, Ginny," her boyfriend replied and kissed her.

"Please, try to keep your hands off each other," Hermione groaned. "We know you love each other and all, but you don't have to show all of us."

"I second that," Draco drawled, and the couple only laughed.

"You're just jealous," Ginny said lightly, but complied with their request. Ginny and Harry exchanged a look behind their menus with starry eyes.

"They're affection for each other begins to border on disgusting to me," Draco whispered to Hermione behind his own menu.

"I know. Maybe it's the post-war you-could-be-dead-right-now-but-you're-not-so-I'm-going-to-appreciate-you phase."

"For three years?" Ron moaned quietly, holding up his menu and jumping into their conversation.

"I'm glad we weren't chums back then," Draco muttered.

"You know, talking behind menus doesn't make them soundproof," Harry stated, and Hermione blushed.

"Damn. That was my plan all along, to talk about you behind soundproof menus which aren't really soundproof," Hermione said, playing along despite her blush.

"Well, looks like you can't know and be aware of everything," Harry said nonchalantly. "Ms. Genius is genius no longer!"

"One doesn't have to be a genius to be aware of her surroundings," she retorted.

"But she should know that without a spell a menu is usually not soundproof." He winked.

"Touché."

"Shall we order?" Neville piped up. "I'm starved. That steak did no good for my stomach."

"Mine either. Yes, let's do that. Waiter!" Harry called.

And so they dined together, succeeding in making Draco feel immensely awkward in some instances when they reminisced about their Hogwarts days and keeping him in the conversation when they talked about the Ministry. The wine and beer flowed, Ron got drunker, Hannah and Neville talked amongst themselves, Luna piped into the conversation here and there, and the others chatted up a storm. Well, besides Draco. He only spoke when he had to or when he had something witty to say.

Then it was over. Hermione stumbled home at two in the morning, chatting amiably to whoever was taking her home. He looked blonde, but she couldn't be sure in the dim streetlamp lights.

"—and that's when I said to Crookshanks, 'you cannot rip up my books, you mangy cat!' And I felt so sorry after I said it, he's so intelligent you know that there must've been a very good reason to why he was doing it, but I couldn't apologise properly afterwards because he _died_ and you can't imagine how sorry I felt then, scolding him and insulting his intelligence like that and him just, well, dying like that so quickly. Perhaps I loved him too much. Or maybe he loved me too much. So I tried to find a new cat to replace him, but he'll always have a spot in my heart and in my home and I just couldn't find any other one to replace him. He was such a lovely cat. Half-Kneazle, you know, and he was intelligent. I just don't understand why he ripped up my book. Perhaps he wanted my attention. I _was_ awfully busy with work at the Ministry then, with paperwork and settling in and all. Sometimes I forgot to feed him. He wasn't very patient. Ron isn't very patient either. Once, when we were down by the lake, he and I, we were skipping rocks and—"

"We're here," Draco interrupted, growing tired of her voice in his own inebriated state.

"Oh, we are. Thank you very much for bringing me here," she said, digging through her purse for her keys. "I probably might not have found it myself in this state and in this dark. They really need to light the streets around my flat some more. It's rather dark, though I've never noticed it too much because I don't stay out for very long in the evenings. Where are my blasted keys? Oh, there they are." She held them up and smiled.

"Well, thank you for bringing me back," she continued. "I hope you have a goodnight."

"Thank you. You too," Draco said.

Hermione kissed his cheek and turned to fiddle her key in the lock. "I had a very nice time tonight and all, and I'm glad you came with us. Didn't you have a nice time? The food was decent too, at the diner. Not all that bad, but better than what the Ministry tried to serve us."

"Yes, I did have a nice time."

"That's good. I was hoping that you did. I would have felt bad for making you come and spend time with us Gryffindors without wanting to."

Draco pursed his lips for a moment before replying. "I came of my own avail. If I had had a bad time, it would've been my own fault."

She turned and smiled at him briefly. "Good thing that didn't happen, then," she said before fiddling with her key again. "Blast, why can't I get this?"

"Here, let me try."

He tried to take it from her, but it resulted in a fumble that ended with the keys on the ground. Hermione bent down to pick it up and handed it to her companion.

"How did I end up with you anyway?" she asked.

"Well, everyone had their dates to take back and you and I didn't, so we paired up."

"Oh. Must've slipped my notice."

"Probably, seeing as how I'm so insignificant in your memories."

"Not true. I remember you quite clearly from our school days. Well, except for the year after the war, when I went back and you didn't."

"True."

Draco fiddled with the door himself and it finally opened. "Merlin, this lock sticks. You should have your landlord change it."

"I should, but I probably won't remember to. Usually doesn't give me too much trouble, unless I'm piss drunk like I am right now."

Draco chuckled. "Need help going up to your room?"

"No, I think I'll be able to manage the lift on my own. If I need you, I'll give you a shout."

"Right. Well, good luck then, and goodnight."

"Goodnight. I'm glad you had fun tonight."

"I did. I did." He smiled, but she felt like something was incomplete so she stared at him, her head leaning against the edge of the door. He stared back, confused. "What?" he whispered.

"Do we have to do something?" she whispered back. "I feel like we have to do something."

"Kiss goodnight?" he asked, smirking.

Hermione thought hard for a moment, still staring into his grey eyes. Was that it? Yes, it was customary for couples to kiss goodnight after a date. Wait. This wasn't a date. She laughed at herself suddenly, startling Draco.

"How silly of me," she said, and Draco smiled and ran his thumb down her cheek lightly.

"You are a silly girl when you're drunk."

"Yes. Well, I need to go to bed. Going to have a nasty hangover if I get up too early." She smiled. "Goodnight." She closed the door and went to the lift. Up in her room, she was able to change into her pyjamas and wash for bed before collapsing onto her bed and closing her eyes. Images of the night flickered in her head and she smiled. It had been a delightful night. And Draco proved to be a superb dance partner. Much better than Ron.

She passed out.

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><p><strong><em>AN: I realised I was writing "A/U" instead of "A/N", so I apologise for that. Thank you for your reviews! I'd love to have more of them. A special thanks to frostykitten for reviewing every chapter! You're great and you made my day! Well, that's the end of the ball. Sorry if it was rather anti-climatic. But it's another step in their relationship! Woot! Okay, well, enough from me, now. Ta ta! Don't forget to review, my lovelies! I do like that many of you are favourite-ing it and the like, but reviews make it even more special! :) Just drop a quick note! Thank you for reading!_**


	6. Sweet, Sweet Lack of Belief

_**_A/N: Yay, new chapter! Thank you all for your lovely reviews! I was simply happy receiving each one. Thank you all, and don't forget to review this chapter too! It certainly brightens my day. Okay, well, I have nothing more to say except, read on and leave me a little comment at the end, and I will respond with joy! :)_**_

_**_A/N #2: Okay, aherm, I did some MAJOR editing to this chapter. I finally found out how I want to end it so...more clues! _**_

* * *

><p><em>There was a knock on her door and she opened it. "Hi." She smiled.<em>

"_Hey. Guess what I have?" _

"_Hmm. The paper?" _

"_You guessed it." He grinned and handed her a copy. "We've made it in again." _

"_I'll add it to my collection." She scrutinised it. "They took a good photograph of us. Better than the last." She dug through a brown box and held up another newspaper clipping of an article about their relationship, one taken earlier. She held them up against each other. The previous one was of them walking, holding hands, and he was in the midst of eating an ice cream and she was chattering a mile a minute. Not exactly her favourite. This new one was, in her opinion, much classier. The sneaky little photographing git had captured them on a park bench. She watched as his photographed self put his arm around her shoulders as they watched children at the park play. _

"_That was when we were watching your little cousin." He came up behind her. "The article's some rubbish about us having a secret child, though the age of your cousin would make that slightly impossible." _

_She just smiled. "You'd think the excitement would've toned down at least a little by now." _

"_We're an exciting couple." He kissed her shoulder. "That gonna go in the box of shame?" _

"_No. I'm going to put this on the cabinet." She summoned some Spello-tape and taped it onto her cereal cabinet. "There. Look nice?" She looked over at him and smiled. _

"_Beautiful." He leant in and kissed her. _

"_So how are you? I haven't seen you in two weeks. Since this photograph was taken." _

"_I've been fine. I've been preoccupied with job searches. Went all the way to France just to see if they'd let me in. Bad idea. English and French do not match." _

"_I thought your English pride would've told you that much," she said as she joined him on the couch. _

_He grinned. "My pride must be sacrificed nowadays." _

"_That ego of yours did need some toning down." She kissed his jaw. "Anyway, I've got a gift for you." _

"_Oh? How sweet. My birthday isn't for another six months." _

"_I would know that. This is my anniversary gift to you." _

"_Did I need to get you something?" His face was confused, and she felt herself getting upset when he started to laugh. _

_She slapped his arm. "Don't do that!" _

"_You know I'd never forget our anniversary," he said, grinning. "It's in the paper." _

_She slapped his arm again. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm still dating you." _

"_Cause you love me." _

"_I guess. Which is why this is for you." She handed him a silver key hanging on a red ribbon. She dropped it into his outstretched hand and he stared at it. _

"_This is…" _

"_The key to my flat, you dolt." _

_He grinned, eyes sparkling. "Are you trying to say something?" _

"_Don't be silly," she teased and kissed him. "I'm saying I love you in a very subtle way. After all, how else can I commemorate the fact that we've been dating for a whole year now?" _

"_Don't look so subtle to me," he said, tossing it up and catching it. "Silver and red." _

"_Red for Gryffindor," she noted, and he nodded. _

"_Right." _

"_Sorry. I keep forgetting you don't like talking about those days." _

"_No, it's fine." _

_She wrapped her arms around his neck. "We went through a lot then, didn't we?" _

"_Yeah." He held her close and pressed his head against hers. He sighed through his nose. _

"_So…what do you have planned for me?" she asked, unable to keep herself from asking. _

"_It's a surprise." He smirked. _

"_Oh, come on." _

"_No can do, love." _

"_You know I don't like surprises." _

"_Yes you do. You like the surprises I get you." _

_She thought about it. "Yes, I suppose that's true," she agreed reluctantly. _

"_You'll love it. Don't worry." _

_And she did. For the most part. _

_That night, after a romantic dinner on the lake which ended in an unforeseen swim, a quiet conversation on the dock as they dried off, and passionate, heated love-making, they lay exposed in his bed, too sleepy to talk. Then an owl came pecking and he got up to open the window. The cool air rushed in and made her skin prickle. She pulled the comforter up closer to her and appraised his bare, pale physique as he read the letter the owl had brought him. The moonlight made him look almost like a Greek god. _

"_Hey," he said suddenly. "I have to go." _

"_Go? Where?" she asked, confused. _

"_My friend needs me." _

"_Your friend? But it's our anniversary." _

"_Well, we've celebrated." _

"_What?" _

_He was dressing in a rush as she watched, still confused and a little angry. _

"_What does she need you for?" she demanded. _

"_Don't get upset. She and her husband separated a few days ago and she's been really upset. They're getting a divorce. He was cheating on her." _

"_That's terrible, but why can't you get one of her other friends to comfort her? I need you too."_

"_You don't need me. You're a strong, independent woman." He kissed her forehead. "And I need to go take care of the woman who's the exact opposite." _

"_You're not cheating on me, are you?" _

"_Hell no." He smirked. "Even if I were, I would give it a rest on our anniversary night." _

"_Don't even joke about things like that." _

"_When you're being silly enough to even ask that question, I have to." He kissed her. "I'll see you later. You can stay here. I'll probably be back in the morning." _

"_Okay. I love you." _

"_I love you too." He paused, his hand going into his pocket and finding his new key. "Maybe I'll break into your flat and sleep there instead." He winked and grabbed a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace, stepped in, and disappeared with the call of a familiar name. _

"_He goes to her place a lot," she thought to herself, depressed. She was consoled by the scent of him on the pillow that she held to her chest. _

The next morning did bring the predicted hangover. Hermione could not remember puking her stomach out, so she was safe from any embarrassments. She wasn't exactly the kind of witch that snogged every living thing pissed, thank goodness.

A quick hangover potion took care of her headache and throbbing temples, and she got ready for work. Several people took a day off, using their hangover as an excuse. Poor excuses. But then again, not everyone could be Hermione Granger.

Or so Draco said at lunch.

"Well said," Harry said, grinning at Draco before tucking into his meal.

Hermione huffed. "It's a common knowledge in the wizarding world that hangover potions _do_ exist and sell for a couple Sickles. Honestly."

"It's Ron's favourite excuse," Harry said, amused by Ron's absence.

Hermione just shook her head. "Where is the git anyway?"

"Home, nursing his hangover. He drank an awful lot. After I dropped Ginny off, I had to help Hannah take him home. He's a right flirt when he's drunk, he is."

"I can imagine. He's a flirt when he's sober," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. She took a bite out of her sandwich.

"How did you two ever last? You were jealous of everything, he was the biggest flirt on the planet."

"Not the biggest. I don't know how we lasted so long." She privately wanted to try again and see how long they lasted, but that wasn't entirely up to her. If only.

"I suppose love had a big part in it," Harry sighed.

Draco grimaced for a moment before his face fell blank again. However, it wasn't quick enough for Hermione.

"What?" she demanded. "Don't believe in love?"

"Not believe in it, per se," he muttered. "Just don't think it lasts."

"And why not?"

"Well don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm just saying I've never seen any romantic relationship based on love alone last."

"You must not get out very often, then, Malfoy."

"Well, _Granger_, I have, and the world's not pretty."

"My parents love each other."

"Yes, but they also live comfortably."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

"If your parents were struggling financially or, say, in the midst of a God-forsaken war, love wouldn't be able to hold them together. Their instinct for survival would come in first and they'd abandon each other when necessity called."

Hermione's mouth was open. Had this boy never been out in the world? "That is absolutely ludicrous," she exclaimed. "Are you really saying this to me right now?"

It was his turn to frown. He was beginning to look defensive. "Yes. That's what I believe."

"Your parents are still together," she pointed out.

Draco grit his teeth momentarily. "Out of necessity. My mother wouldn't last without the Malfoy name now. Her sister is dead, her niece is dead, most of her close family is dead; my father has to take care of her. She'd be defenseless without him." He shrugged. "Granted, their relationship has grown less strained since the war ended, but still. Love out of necessity and pride. And I don't even know if it's love."

"Well, I'm very sorry to hear that," she said. "Love does last, though. My own parents love each other very much, and they've lasted for nearly…let's see, twenty-six years now?" She smiled. "It's gross to watch, being their daughter, but I believe in love because of them."

"Just wait until they disappoint you," Draco muttered, going back to his food.

"I have faith," she stated firmly, put out by his negativity.

"That's what Pansy thought till her parents divorced just last year."

"Arranged marriage?"

He gave her a strange look. "No. What makes you think that?"

Hermione shrugged half-heartedly. "Could be an excuse for all of these failed marriages."

"No. People get swept up in the whirlwind romance and don't think of what the word 'forever' really means."

Hermione nodded understandingly as the others ignored their conversation. "Who else do you know that's got divorced parents?"

"Well, Blaise's mum has married several different men in her lifetime. Theo's parents are too comfortable in their lives to get a divorce, even if that 'spark's' out of it."

"Doesn't mean they don't love each other," Hermione pointed out. "They could merely not show it publicly very often."

"More like not at all." Draco shook his head. "Anyway, that doesn't change my opinion on the matter. Marriage doesn't last, and neither does any commitment based on love."

"Have you ever been in love?"

Harry turned his head quickly to the window. Hermione's determined brown eyes stared straight into Draco's fidgety ones.

"I have."

"And I'm assuming it didn't last for you?"

He took a deep breath and dipped his spoon into his soup. "No."

"I'm sorry about that, but you must know that she probably wasn't the one for you. Your soul mate and all. You had other relationships after, right?"

He smirked bitterly. "How could I have if I knew the outcome already?"

She frowned. "How would you know for sure that love doesn't work out if you don't want to try it again?"

"Because I've seen it deteriorate all around me."

"That still doesn't give you the right to say whether it works or doesn't, especially if you've only been in love once in your life."

"I don't want to indulge in such a brief feeling nor an act of temporary commitment if it's that fleeting. You should understand, Granger. You read books about potions, for example, and you know which potions are bad and which are good and you see that people who take bad potions get sick or die. And if you experience it yourself, that's the cherry on top. That's exactly how it is for me; logical."

"But aren't you curious of _why_?"

Draco frowned and shook his head. "Not interested in learning why. Not if it hurts me and other people in the end."

Hermione could only shake her head.

"Oh Draco. Just wait until you meet the right witch who won't fail you. Then you'll change your mind."

"The day that happens, pigs'll fly."

Hermione grinned. "I'll make sure to let your future wife know that."

Draco ignored her and gave his food his undivided attention. Hermione smirked at him and went back to eating herself. One day he'd see. And Hermione had a stray thought, wondering if one day _she'd_ be the one to make him see. It was a fleeting thought, but one that made her suddenly feel strange in his presence. 'Stop being silly,' she thought to herself silently. Even if she was attracted to this pale blonde (something she had allowed herself to believe only a few moments ago), it didn't mean she had a bloody crush on him or something of that sort. That would be utterly ridiculous.

Well, maybe just a _little_ one.

After work, Hermione decided to have a little walk around Hogsmeade. She hadn't been here in so long. It'd been almost a year ago, now, maybe more. She smiled at the familiar shops and the new ones with colourful window displays. They distracted her walk and she nearly bumped into someone.

"Oh! Excuse me," she said, and the man smiled.

"Well isn't it Hermione Granger?" he said with a grin.

"Yes," she said slowly. "And, sorry, you are?"

"Ted Watson! Don't you remember? We used to be neighbors years ago."

"Oh!" She smiled slightly. "That was ages ago."

"Yeah, it was. I've heard so much about you since. Where's your boyfriend?"

Hermione swallowed. She was still a little sore about her break-up with Ron. "We broke up a couple months ago."

"Oh, that's too bad. I'm sorry 'bout that. But I can't say I didn't see it coming."

Hermione frowned. What? The papers had said they were a match made in heaven!

"Well, I've got an appointment. I have to go. It was really nice seeing you again Hermione. Hope I see you soon!"

"Yeah, you too. Bye."

Hermione shook her head. Maybe their fights had gotten through to Ted's side of the wall. Well, Ted's side of the hall. Whatever.

She sighed and continued wandering around Hogsmeade. When she arrived in front of Honeydukes, the wonderful smells of fresh toffee and other sweets tempted her. She could only comply.

Hermione entered the sweets shop and took a deep breath of sugary goodness. Walking quickly to her favourite section (toffee, of course), she smiled and looked through the glass counter at the fresh toffee. They smelled so delicious.

"Fin' somethin' yeh like?" the employee asked, and she looked up at them and smiled. She hadn't heard a cockney accent like that in awhile.

"Yes, the honey-coloured toffee."

"Ah, the 'oneydukes special fo' yah? Why not git it chocolate-cahvahd?"

"That's a good idea," she said. "I'll take three of those."

"Good choice." The bloke swept them up out of their place and wrapped them before putting them in a small paper bag. " 'ere yeh go. That'll be thi'teen Sickles."

Hermione counted the silver coins out and handed it to him. "Thank you!"

"Thank you! 'ave a nice day!"

"You too." Hermione smiled and walked out. Once outside, she dug into her bag and pulled out one of the wrapped toffees. She unwrapped it quickly and appraised it. It smelled good. She popped it into her mouth and smiled blissfully. Honeydukes made the best chocolate _and_ the best toffee.

"Bit embarrassing to have an orgasm right outside a sweets shop, in't it?"

Hermione's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Toffee, huh?" Draco looked inside the bag as if he hadn't said anything. "Ah, chocolate-covered. I can smell it."

"What?"

"Granger, don't pretend you're deaf now."

She only stared at him, still appalled at his earlier comment.

"Adeline wanted to come here. She should be arriving any moment."

"Adeline?"

"Yes, remember? French, pretty, poor English? Ah, here she is."

The petite French girl was walking over. Draco waved at her and Hermione looked over. At the sight of the two of them, Adeline waved back, smiling and quickened her pace.

"Here alone?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Hermione replied, shaking her thoughts away.

"Join us."

"I was just in there though."

"You've got a sweet tooth, I know it." He smiled. "And I'll buy you more toffee."

That was an offer she absolutely could not refuse. Adeline joined them before she could say anything, however.

"Hello," she said, pecking Draco on the cheek and greeting Hermione. "Sorry, I disturb?"

"Of course not. I was just convincing Hermione to join us on our Honeydukes expedition."

"Oui, you should join us, Hermione!"

"Only if you keep with your promise of buying me more toffee, Draco." Hermione smiled sweetly, and Draco smirked.

"I promise. Now let's go."

He pushed Hermione in front of him and Adeline grabbed onto his arm as they went in.

The smell of sweets was once again overpowering and Hermione popped another toffee into her mouth. Another wave of pleasure invaded her taste buds. Ah, so good.

"Ooh, the chocolate-covered cauldron! My favourite!" Adeline squealed and took one off the shelf. "I want this one."

"Okay. You know there's Firewhisky in it?"

"Oui, of course. I drink hard liquor too, you know."

"Yes," Draco said in slight disbelief. "Hold on. I'm going to get my sweets."

"Okay."

Hermione watched their exchange, slightly unbelieving of their claim as "just friends."

"Are you sure you and Draco aren't dating?" she asked Adeline once the man in question was out of earshot.

Adeline laughed. "Draco and I? We are like brother and sister. I know him all my life. It would be…strange to be dating him. But you and him? Not so strange, I think." She smiled cheekily and Hermione pursed her lips.

"Now _that_ would be very strange."

"Why so?"

Hermione smiled. "Draco and I? We're as different as water and oil. We don't mix."

"You never know." Adeline was still wearing that smile.

Hermione was anxious to get off the topic now. "How long are you here for?"

"Another few days, and then it is off to Cambridge, and France again."

"What will you be doing in Cambridge?"

"Another of Mother's friends. She has lot of English friends."

"That's nice." Hermione smiled. "I've never been to Cambridge."

"Me too. I am excited to go, but I am also excited to go home too. England is nice, but France is home."

"Yes, I understand completely."

"I'm glad! Draco does not like France very much either. Says it is not England. Obvious, no?" She laughed. "But I understand. Have you go to France?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes, a few times on holidays."

"Lovely! Where you go?"

"Somewhere in southern France. I don't remember the name of the cities."

"Is okay. It is hard for me to remember English place too."

Draco came then, interrupting their conversation. "Sorry I took so long. Mother wanted me to pick her up some things too."

"I was going to say, someone has a sweet tooth," Hermione said, and he rolled his eyes.

"Oui, oui. I'll eat all of this myself."

He went to the counter and the cockney-accented bloke greeted them. " 'Ello. This all fo' yah?"

"I also want five of those chocolate-covered toffees," he said, pointing at the window.

"Good choice."

The bloke gathered all of the toffees and put them into the bag. "Between you an' Miss Grangah ovah theh, you 'bout ran us out'ah those toffees fo' today."

Draco nodded. "Blame her."

Hermione blushed and the bloke laughed. " 'Ell, I can't get ovah those toffees eithah." The bloke calculated it all as he put it into a bag. "That'll be seven Galleons."

"Here."

"Thank you! 'ave a nice day."

"Thanks."

Draco took the bags and handed the toffee-filled one to Hermione. "Here you go, m'lady."

"Thank you." Hermione was excited to have so many sweets. It wasn't good for her, but oh well. It was Honeydukes! How could anyone resist?

"Mm, I can't wait to go home and eat this," Adeline said with her box as they stepped outside.

"That's quite good," Hermione replied before stuffing another toffee into her mouth.

"Alright, both of you, let's stop talking about sweets."

"Tu sais que tu veux un de ton sugar quills et les bâtons de chocolat."

"Non, c'est pour ma mère," he said defensively.

"Tu l'aimes!" she laughed. "Je sais."

He rolled his eyes and Hermione pouted.

"Not fair! I don't understand French."

"Sorry. I just tell Draco to eat his sugar quills. He loves them."

"No I don't."

"And the chocolate wands."

Draco sighed.

"Honeydukes chocolate is superb," Hermione said and smiled. "Oh, and thank you for the toffees. I loved the cashier's cockney accent."

"Really? If he spoke any faster I think I would've gotten lost."

"I like it."

Draco just wrinkled his nose and refrained from commenting.

"Adeline, want a chocolate wand?" he asked instead.

"Oui, but you must have one too."

"Fine."


	7. Curiouser and Curiouser

_At three in the morning, the birthday wishes started coming. She groaned as an owl woke her up with his sharp pecks on the window. "Coming," she muttered after listening to the irritating tapping for ten minutes. She received the letter and, grumbling, gave the owl a sprinkle of cereal before shooing it away. She opened the letter which immediately came out of her hands and began to speak to her._

"_HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" it shouted, and she, her ears still sensitive in the early morning, groaned. "We wanted to be the first to wish it to you! Have a bloody amazing day! We'll see you later. We love you!"_

_The letter dropped to the ground, but by that time she had crawled back into bed and was dozing off. At four in the morning, another owl came. She'd left her window open, making the next wake up call even more startling and slightly painful. _

_A familiar owl pecked at her head and she swiped it off her bed involuntarily with a shriek. The owl shrieked as well. _

"_Bloody hell!" she gasped and looked at the glaring Scops-owl. It fluttered its wings and came back to her, did a little dance and dropped the letter in her lap before flying off. She knew who this was from. The owl made it obvious. _

"_Happy birthday!" she read begrudgingly. "I wanted to beat the others, sorry for waking you. We're going to have a bloody great day today, so look forward to it! Hope nobody ruined the surprise. Or beat me to you. Love you!" _

_She threw the letter to the ground, too tired and irritated to feel loved. She buried her head under her pillow, hoping for no more sleep-depriving messages. _

_Unfortunately, there were at least three more in the next four hours. So at eight in the morning, when she had to wake for work, she was irritated, angry, and unable to see how having a lot of friends made birthdays fun. Birthdays always ended up with her losing more sleep than necessary and a hangover the next morning. _

_Her fireplace came to life as someone appeared. As expected, it was her boyfriend. "Hey, love," he said, kissing her. "Happy birthday!" _

"_Thanks," she said, taking the gift he handed her. _

"_I took the liberty of calling in sick for you today so we can celebrate." He smiled. "I think our mates are coming over in half an hour. We're going to go out for breakfast and then—what's wrong?" _

_Her face had grown harder as he'd spoken. When he commented on it, she sighed. "I don't want to see them. They ruined my perfectly good sleep by trying to beat each other out on wishing me a happy birthday." _

"_Well, it's nice to have people that care, isn't it?" _

"_Not if you want to sleep!" She went to the couch still dressed in her work robes and lay down and buried her head in the pillows._

_He smiled and sat at her feet. "Darling, that's how people express their love. They wake you up at ungodly hours of the morning to wish you a happy birthday." _

"_Well I wish they wouldn't. Then I wouldn't be so bloody cranky right now." _

_He suppressed his smile and rubbed her back. "Oh, come off it. You love them anyway. After all, it is your day. If you want, just tell them to shove off."_

"_I can't do that! Not after they planned the whole day for me." _

"_It can be canceled. Today's the day where you can do whatever you want." _

_She sat up and sighed again. "You mean whatever they want." _

"_They're not going to murder you for expressing your own opinion. They'll understand that you want to sleep all day. Your kind of relaxing and celebrating is different from their idea of celebrating. Believe me." _

"_Yeah, I know." She groaned. "But I should do what they want." _

"_If you're going to do it, then don't complain! But if you don't want to, then say you don't want to." _

"_No, I do want to." She rubbed her eyes. "I just wish I'd had more time to sleep." _

_He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you want, princess." She wrinkled her nose and poked him. _

"_Don't call me that." _

"_Then don't act like one." _

_She smiled. "Yeah, whatever. Ugh. I'm going to get ready then." She got up and sighed heavily before going to the door. He smirked. _

"_Try on your happy face," he called after her. "Might make your day brighter." _

_She answered by throwing a pillow at him and shutting her door. _

The three of them walked down Hogsmeade eating their respective sweets.

"Where are you headed next?" Draco piped up suddenly.

"Oh, just home."

"Anything special planned tonight?"

"No, nothing really. Why?"

"Adeline and I are going to this new Korean restaurant called Young Bean at six. Want to come?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude…"

"How would you be intrude if Draco invite you?" Adeline pointed out. "We would love you to join us."

Hermione smiled. "That'd be great then, yeah."

"Great. We'll pick you up at your flat then."

"You know where it is?"

"Vaguely. Send me an owl with your address just in case."

Hermione nodded. "I'll do that when I get home. Okay, well. I'll see you both in a couple hours."

"All right. Bye."

"Goodbye, Hermione!"

Hermione smiled at them both before Apparating to her flat. Then she remembered that she didn't have an owl so she Apparated back to Hogsmeade to send her address to Draco. After doing so (it was strange directing a letter to the Malfoy Manor), she went back home and decided to do some work. For some reason she was getting jittery just thinking about having dinner with them. Dinner seemed so…intimate for some reason, especially with those two. It wasn't like it was anything special, was it? No, it wasn't. Then why was she feeling like this?

Hermione didn't like having unexplainable feelings that brought up unanswerable questions, so she buried herself in work she'd brought home for the remaining time.

Six o'clock came rather quickly then, and she dressed in periwinkle robes as she awaited Malfoy and Adeline. She was realising how terrible of a habit it had become, calling "Draco" "Malfoy" inadvertently. Five to six years of school with the bloke did do that to a person, especially since that had been all that she'd ever called him. Harry and Ron seemed to have transitioned really quickly, which she deemed odd. To her knowledge, the Weasleys and Malfoys had never gotten along till recently.

The sound of knocking disturbed her thoughts and she went to answer the door.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," Draco replied. Adeline smiled and waved from behind him.

"I can't let you two come in, sorry, it's a mess in here. Let me just grab my purse." Her heart felt rather fluttery for a moment and she calmed herself when she was out of their sight.

"All right. Let's go." She closed her door and locked it with her wand and smiled at the two. Adeline had also changed, and she looked absolutely smashing. How did Draco not fall in love with her? She was beautiful enough, and French. Hermione was a bit jealous, she had to admit. Just a bit.

Draco grabbed her hand. "Going to Apparate us there," he said, and then they disappeared. The trip was short and he released her right after. "Here we are," he said. "Young Bean."

"I wonder where they come up with these names," Hermione said mostly to herself. "Asian restaurants seem to have strange names."

"I think all restaurant names are rather strange, whatever their origin. Like the Three Broomsticks? Or the Hog's Head? Or they're unimaginative," Draco replied and walked into the restaurant. The two witches followed.

"Reservation under Malfoy," he was saying to the maitre d', and they were forced to wait another five minutes before they could follow the friendly Asian woman to a somewhat secluded table against the wall.

"Thank you," Draco said.

Hermione was busy chatting with Adeline as Draco took over the situation. In the seven minutes it had taken for them to go inside and be seated, she had learnt that Adeline wanted to get a job as a creature's healer but was torn between that or working as an advocate for magical creatures. A witch after her own heart.

"So what were you girls chatting about?" Draco asked curiously.

"Nothing that interest you," Adeline replied with a smile.

"Let me guess. House elf rights?"

"How'd you guess it?"

"Come on. Hermione Granger? A subject I'm not interested in? That could have been the only topic."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked, frowning in offence.

"Oh, come off it. How could anyone have forgotten your short-lived campaign for house elf rights?"

Hermione smiled slightly despite herself at the silly name of her campaign. "Ah, yes. S.P.E.W."

"Yes. Horrid name, that."

"For once, I must agree with you." She took a sip of water.

Adeline was watching their exchange with eager eyes.

"You agreeing with me seems to be happening more and more often," he said with a smirk.

"Don't bet on it lasting very long."

"That's what I was thinking last time, but seems like I was wrong."

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Know what you want to eat?" she asked instead.

"Cold Korean noodles sounds good to me. How about you, Adi?"

"I am not sure what is good here."

"Neither am I," Hermione offered. "I think I'm going to get the broiled salmon," she looked down at her menu, " 'with soy honey glaze.'" She looked at the French witch and smiled. "Sounds pretty good."

"I smell a salmon lover," Draco commented.

Hermione ignored him.

"I think I get the beef and soup," Adeline said. "It sounds good. Comes with rice too, no?"

"Yes, it does. All of these dishes come with rice. And these little side dishes." She smiled as they appeared on their table. "I've been to a few Korean restaurants and I still don't know what all of these are. Do you go to Korean restaurants often, Draco?"

"Not usually. I never hear about them, really, till my mum pointed this one out. Said it got great reviews in _The_ _Daily Prophet_ on its opening night."

"Can't wait to try the food, then. We'll see if the critics lie. If so, I'll have to tell Penelope that she has to fire someone."

"Penelope?"

"Penelope Clearwater. She's the head editor of the paper. She went to Hogwarts too, but she was four years older."

"Probably why I don't know her."

Hermione shrugged. "I probably shouldn't bother telling you this, but she's been dating Percy Wealsey since their school days. We spent a lot of time together last summer when I went on holiday with the Weasleys and we became pretty good friends."

"Too much information," Draco said nonchalantly and hid his face behind his menu.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, annoyed, and Adeline giggled.

"You two are quite funny," she said plainly, and Hermione sniffed.

"Glad someone thinks so. Anyway, Adeline, let's continue our conversation. So what about house elf rights interests you the most?"

"Well…"

Draco groaned audibly but neither girl acknowledged it. It wasn't till their waiter came to take their orders that they stopped chatting.

"Finally," Draco grumbled under his breath and Adeline couldn't help her giggle.

They ordered their food and Draco sighed.

"All right, Draco?" Adeline asked.

"Yeah, fine. Just thinking about work."

"What about?"

"Well, all this training is getting on my nerves."

"Harry not good enough?" Hermione piped up.

"No, he's fine. Just everything I have to do is—I don't feel comfortable telling you with Hermione Granger here." Draco looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"Draco, if we're to be friends we have to get used to venting to each other too. That way we'll get to know each other better." Hermione smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway." He turned to Adeline. "There's this one bloke who's being a right prick and keeps telling me to sod off and go back to the Death eaters. Harry tried to talk to him, but he keeps saying rude and crude things. I've tried my best to ignore him, but you know my temper's not always one to be kept down."

"What's his name?" Hermione asked, incensed by this information.

"Like I'd tell you," Draco scoffed. "You'd probably get him fired for not following Harry's orders."

"How'd you know? And why would you care?"

"It's none of your business, anyway."

"Once they become used to you, Draco, they will be nicer," Adeline said. She put a hand on his forearm. "You are not the same as you were in the past." She smiled. "You are better person now. It just takes them long time to realise. War is still…soft to people."

"Sensitive?"

"Oui, yes."

Draco nodded. "It's just bloody annoying. You'd think after three years things would have changed."

Hermione continued to listen to their conversation, brows furrowed. Harry should have dealt with this already. They knew Draco wasn't the same as he had been. Granted, Hermione had had the same inhibitions about Draco as the other bloke did. Maybe if the bloke spent more time with Draco he'd get to know him and see how much Draco had changed for the better.

She voiced this thought out loud and Draco scoffed.

"That would never work. He can hardly stand being in the same room with me for more than half an hour without spewing insults and storming off. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" A ghost of a sneer passed across his face before it fell back into frustration.

"I never spewed insults and stormed out. I had more dignity than that." She sniffed. "But we have to do something about this bloke. What he's doing is just wrong. Who is this bloke anyway? Did he even fight in the war?"

Draco shrugged. "How would I know? We're not exactly mates."

"Right. Just tell me his name."

"No."

'Fine,' Hermione thought to herself. 'I'll ask Harry.'

Draco narrowed his eyes at her when she stopped asking and he turned back to Adeline.

"Anyroad, how are you, Adi? Everything fine? How's that bloke you're dating?" Draco smirked when she blushed. "Jacques, was it?"

"Yes."

"How is he?"

"You do not care." Adeline mocked a glare. "You are very rude at him always."

"I'm playing the friend," he said with a grin. "Can't let my mate date the wrong bloke. Someone's got to intimidate him, and you know your mum won't do it."

Adeline smiled. "I do appreciate it, but still. Be nicer."

"You have a boyfriend?" Hermione asked with a smile. Adeline's blush was adorable.

"Oui, Jacques. He is in France. He is nice."

"How long have you been dating for?"

"Four year now."

"Wow."

"Oui. We meet at school."

"That's lovely." Hermione's lips curled into a dreamy smile.

"Never took you for a romantic, Granger," Draco said, smirking at her expression. She snapped out of it.

"Sod off, Malfoy."

"Though I suppose every girl is a romantic at heart."

"Romantics are needed to keep the thought of love going. Not cynical people like _you_."

"If everyone were a romantic, we'd be living in our own little worlds. Realists have to keep everyone alert of the present and point out the condition of the human race. Especially its flaws."

Hermione sighed. "There's no point in arguing with you."

"What happened to Miss I-Must-Defend-My-Every-Point?"

"I'm just tired of fighting," she said. "Tired of arguing too."

"Had a bad day today or something?"

She didn't answer but stood. "I'm going to the loo." She walked off without any idea of how to get to one. The next waiter she saw she asked and was directed to it. Once inside, she closed her eyes and sighed. Maybe it would have been better if she had just gone home to eat dinner alone. She was awfully tired and Draco's antics weren't helping. Well, she wasn't going to run now. She'd faced Death eaters and lived. She could survive a dinner with a reformed D.E. and his lovely friend.

After washing her hands, she went back to the table where their food was beginning to arrive.

"You are in time," Adeline said with a smile. Hermione saw the salmon piping hot on a plate in front of her.

"Yum." She sat down and tucked into her meal.

"I was about to steal bits of it," Draco said and Hermione shook her head.

"Stop trying to get her angry, Draco. Let us have a nice dinner."

"I'm not trying to get her angry. She knows I'm just teasing." But he quieted and Hermione was thankful. She wasn't in the mood for his incessant "teasing".

His trouser-clad knee brushed hers under the table once and she ignored it. It happened again, and she got the feeling he was trying to irk her subtly. Well, she wouldn't fall for it. The next time it happened, his knee stayed there. Hermione ignored it. The best way to stop his approaches was to ignore him. He was just an attention seeker.

Adeline was talking and Hermione was trying to pay attention. "And Jacques telled me to keep quiet, but it was hard, yes. I tried to get back to my home, but he still try to beat the owl away. And his poor hands—"

Hermione snuck a peek at Draco. He seemed composed, eating his noodles like a gentleman. He was even holding his chopsticks correctly. Hermione had had her practise with chopsticks from all the Chinese takeout she had ordered the first year she moved into her flat. It surprised her that he could use them, though she didn't know why. Adeline was hardly touching her food, she was talking so animatedly about…something. Draco's grey eyes suddenly slid over to her, taking a peek himself, and their eyes met.

His eyes darted back to Adeline and he nodded politely. Hermione wondered if he was even listening to her, but she did the same.

"—and it got away, leaving its letter. It was such a hassle trying to find the owner. I am sure we could have got it to an owlery, but it is very far from Jacques' home, so we try to find it. The person lived in the neighborhood. Finally—"

Hermione felt terrible for not being able to comprehend most of Adeline's sentences, but it was just because she was lost in her own head. She was eating absently, nodding occasionally to give the appearance that she was listening. Her thoughts were, regrettably, on Malfoy's behaviour and what her reaction should be. When she and Ron or Harry accidentally brushed their foot or knee against each other, they made a joke about it or playfully kicked the other's shoes, grinning madly at each other like it was a secret. But she couldn't do that with Draco. He could easily get the wrong idea. So should she just do nothing?

"—ione? Hermione?"

Hermione snapped out of her stupor. "What? Sorry, I was spacing out." She smiled apologetically as Adeline laughed.

"It's okay. I just asking you how is your food?"

"Its fine, thanks. It's a lot better than I thought it would be."

"Oui, I think so too of mine."

"Let me try some, Adi," Draco said, and Adeline stabbed a piece of meat and put it into his mouth. He chewed contemplatively. His damn knee was still there.

"Huh. Not bad."

Adeline nodded, satisfied, and she and Draco tucked back into their meals. Hermione was itching to find out just how close Adeline and Draco were. Almost as much as she wanted to know whether she liked Draco's knee against hers or not. She just put another forkful into her mouth and made her silent decision. She pulled her knee away and slammed it against his.

Draco glared at her and she smiled sweetly and went back to eating.

When they had finished their meal and Draco had gallantly paid for it, they went walking around London. It was beautiful and still quite busy. They night was still young. Draco had his hands in his pockets and Adeline had slipped an arm through his. It made Hermione first wished that Harry or Ron were here so she could do the same, but then she thought not. She fancied herself an independent woman. She didn't need a man to rely on.

"Fancy some ice cream?" Draco piped up.

"Ice cream would be nice," Adeline replied.

"Ginny and I tried that new ice cream parlour near Flourish & Blotts," Hermione added. "It's not bad."

"Yes, Draco and I go there too," Adeline said with a smile. "It is nice. I like the strange flavours they have."

"Fantastic. Let's go on, then."

Adeline nodded and the three went and tapped the bricks deep inside The Leaky Cauldron, allowing them to enter Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley was emptier than usual, noting the hour and all. The walk to the parlour wasn't very long, but when they entered, it was empty and quiet. There was one employee working, but when he saw Hermione, his eyes widened and he smiled shakily.

"Er, just a minute," he said nervously before rushing behind the employee's door.

That was odd.

"What was—" Hermione slapped a mouth over Draco's mouth and looked around.

And then…and _then_.

Hermione whirled around, wand out. She hadn't come out of the war without her extreme sensitivity of these situations. There was a shadow that came out of the employee's room.

Hermione shouted, "Protego!" just as the shadow yelled out "Incarcerous!"

"Bloody hell!" Draco yelped, ducking and pulling out his wand. Hermione ran to the side, casting a shield charm once again and dragging Adeline along with her.

"Stupefy!" yelled the shadow, and Hermione leapt to the side, crashing into the counter, and cast her own spell instead.

"_Stupefy_!" she screamed in reply, stunning the man in front of her. He shot back and broke through the glass of the parlour. The spell was done so quickly that she hadn't gotten a good look at his face.

"Run!" she yelled to Draco, who hesitated before bolting out of the door. Hermione herself leapt to her feet, grabbed Adeline's hand and followed him. She pushed the French girl out ahead of her. And then, as if triggering a bomb, the whole parlour blew up.

"Oh my god. Oh my god," Hermione panted, black dots exploding in her vision and her ears ringing. They had landed hard outside on the cobblestone road, the force of the explosion propelling them farther than she had originally planned. She was still holding Adeline's hand and clutching her wand tightly in her other hand. Hermione quickly assessed her injuries as she lied there. Her leg had barely made it out, but her left foot was absolutely numb. If she lifted her head, she was sure to see it disfigured and broken.

The rest of her was okay, just cuts and bruises from broken glass and the rough stone street. She turned her aching head to Adeline. The girl also seemed fine, though she was covered in dust. Hermione knew she probably looked the same.

"Hermione!" Draco's voice came, panting. "Are you okay? Are you—oh, Merlin." He turned his face away from her foot, his face screwed up in disgust.

"What? What?" she asked breathlessly.

"Your foot is injured."

"Yeah, I know. Other than that, I'm fine. Is Adeline okay?"

When Hermione felt as though she had her bearings again, she pushed herself over to her companion, making sure she didn't touch her foot to the ground. Draco rushed to his friend's side.

"Adeline?" she called, coughing. "Enervate."

Adeline's eyes slowly blinked and she looked at Hermione. "Oh, Hermione!" she cried and embraced her fiercely. "That was so scary!" She let go of Hermione to squeeze Draco.

And then the pain from her foot came rushing and Hermione almost cried out.

"Hermione! All right?" Adi asked.

"No, no! Oh my god, my foot!" Adeline quickly rushed to the injured appendage and gasped, covering her mouth. She turned away, slightly green in the face.

"This is why I am no healer," she whispered. A crowd had formed and Aurors had been called. Hermione could see the stunned man slowly coming back to, and she quickly pointed her wand at him. The crowd of civilians parted at the sight and she shouted, "Stupefy!" rendering him unconscious once again.

"Incarcerous!" Draco added. Then they saw a group of Aurors go rushing to the man.

"Hermione!" came a cry, and she recognised Ron's voice.

"Ron!" she cried back. She was clenching her teeth against the pain. It felt like her foot was about to be severed. "Oh god, Ron!"

"Hermione, we need to get you to St. Mungo's. Can you Apparate?"

"Hell no! Not like this! Ron, Merlin, oh my god, just get someone to fix it!"

"I'll go." Draco Disapparted immediately.

"It'll be okay," Ron said, trying to soothe the distraught witch.

Draco came back a few painful minutes later with an on-call healer. "Here!" he said, leading the healer over. "It's her foot."

The healer bent down and performed a spell that lessened the pain. Hermione grit her teeth harder and the tears came faster. "Ron, Ron," she moaned.

"It'll be okay, it's going to be okay," Ron said, his words coming in a rush. "It'll be okay, Hermione, I promise. Dolohov's going to be sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss for what he did."

The pain was making Hermione disoriented. She could literally feel the edge of one of her bones sticking out and rubbing against the stone. She tried to lessen the friction, but it seemed inevitable. The man came back to mind.

"You catch that bloke Ron? I stunned him! He was at the scene, there."

"Yes, yes, we got him. Called Harry too so he and his Aurors could take care of him." He tried a smile. "You saved us from any more surprise attacks. He's the last Death eater with a death wish."

"He—what?"

"Dolohov."

"Oh."

Dolohov had been the last Death eater still around immense causing trouble. He'd either been in hiding or on the run and it had been rumoured that he was attempting to form his own army. She was so grateful that he had been captured. With that Death eater captured now, there would hopefully be a little more peace in the world.

"We have to take her to the hospital," the healer said. "I can't set it here, and it has to be cleaned and disinfected."

"Fine. Can she Apparate?"

"I'll Apparate her," said the healer.

"We'll see you there, Hermione."

"_Guess what!" she exclaimed, leaping into his arms. "I got the job!" _

"_Congratulations!" he crowed. "That's wonderful!" _

"_I know! Oh, I've wanted to work there for ages! Ever since I heard about it." _

"_You deserve it more than anyone." _

"_Did you find a place to work too?" _

"_Yeah, I did!" _

"_What is it?" _

"_Well, I want to work as an Auror..." _

"_That's wonderful!" _

"…_But I'm too frightened to apply for that so right now I'm working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." _

"_What?" _

"_Yeah, I know. George needed help with odd jobs." _

"_I never would have pegged you as the type of guy to work there." _

"_Tell me about it." _

"_You should apply to be an Auror!" _

"_No bloody way." _

"_Oh, come on." _

"_I will when I have the guts. I still want to settle down a little after the war, you know." _

"_Yes, I understand." _

"_Even though I loved the action of it all, I need a little break. Unlike Harry." _

"_Yeah. He jumped on the opportunity right away." She smiled a little. "I'm sort of glad you're not like that, though. I know there's still a whole lot of Death eaters still needing to be captured, and I wouldn't want to worry about you." _

"_Well, I'm so glad you got your job. You'll be fantastic." _

"_I know! I'm so excited to start!" _

"_When do you start?" _

"_I start my training Monday." _

"_That's bloody fantastic." _

"_I know." She leapt into his arms and kissed him soundly. "Whatever you do," she said, "you'll be great at it too. Go make George Weasley proud to call you his employee!" _

"_Yeah, right. He's going to fire me right away." _

"_Right. Your personalities will clash too much." _

_He leant down and kissed her. "Good thing ours' don't." _

_Hermione smiled. "Come on. Let's celebrate." She kissed him again. _

"_How are we going to celebrate, exactly?" _

_She gave him a sultry smile and her head traveled down his stomach slowly. _

_He laughed. "I'll give it to you. You do know how to celebrate." He wrapped his arms around her tightly and smothered her with kisses. She Apparated them to her flat and she opened her bedroom door. _

"_I love you, you know," she told him as she pushed him onto her bed. _

"_I love you too," he replied as he pulled her on top of him. "So much so it hurts." _

"_I'll soothe your pain." She winked and he laughed and kissed her again. _

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: If I'm being honest with you, my dear readers, my love for Ron has been growing quite a lot and my love for Draco diminishing a little. It's probably because Ron is such a prominent character in this story that I'm loving him more. Also, I hope the whole attack-on-the-poor-ice-cream-parlour didn't kill the story...did I do okay? Please reassure me! And tell me what you think! I hope it wasn't too out of the blue. Review! Thank you so much all of you who reviewed! I appreciate you all so very much!_**


	8. What Happens in Life Never Stays Private

All five arrived at St. Mungo's in a snap and Hermione was taken to one of the rooms. The other three followed.

Ron was drilling Draco and Adeline for information. Adeline was still crying a little from the shock of it all and her near-death experience. It had all happened very quickly, less than an hour, and Adeline still couldn't believe it had happened. Draco regretted not doing more to help. Ron was just glad Hermione was okay and that Dolohov had finally been captured.

The bones in Hermione's foot were set quickly with a spell. Draco and Ron were by her side, holding her hand as she cried out and squeezed as she felt the bones shifting.

"You had a lot of broken, misplaced bones," the healer told her. "Here, now. Drink this potion. It'll help your bones grow back into place faster."

Hermione did as she was told. It didn't hurt nearly as much now that the bones had been set. The healer healed the cuts and punctures and wrapped her foot to keep it steady and immobile as the bones set into place.

"Hermione, you really gave me a scare," Ron said. "Merlin."

"You and your Aurors were really fast."

"Thank you. I take that as a compliment." He smiled. "We train to react quickly to situations, especially when on call."

"Thank you for that." She leant her head back into her pillow.

"Hermione, you really save my life," Adeline said. She squeezed Hermione's arm lightly. "Thank you very much. Mother will never believe me."

"He was after me, really," Hermione said. "I'm sorry I dragged you all into that. He must've located me at the parlour. I just feel bad for the parlour now. The poor place is in ruins now."

Draco was shaking his head. "You were absolutely magnificent, Hermione."

"Well, it doesn't do well to linger in dangerous places." She smiled slightly. "I learnt a lot from the war."

"I'd say."

She noticed that Ron had let go of her hand. She squeezed Draco's instead and smiled at him. He didn't seem like he was going to relinquish it any time soon.

"I'm sorry I didn't help. It was all rather quick."

"Stop saying that. Anyway, if you had helped, it would have been too chaotic. You might've gotten hexed yourself." She grinned. "Then I would've had to save two people instead of one."

Draco rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I'll ignore your comments for now. I'm just glad you and Adeline are okay."

"Me too." She sighed and closed her eyes. "I thought today was going to be a normal day. But it never is for Hermione Granger."

Ron chuckled at her side. "You bet it isn't."

"Where's Harry?"

"Probably at the scene now. You know he's always where the action is. I should probably go back soon myself."

She sighed and nodded. "Yes, of course. You should go."

"Well, you know, later. I mean I'll go a little later." Ron was tripping over his words, and Hermione suppressed her smile. He never was the perfectly articulate one. She just nodded again, eyes still closed.

"All right, I lied. I do have to go," Ron said, looking at a coin. The Aurors still used the coin system that Hermione had created to communicate to each other. He leant over and kissed her forehead before standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow, though. Do you know when you're going to be released?"

"Not yet. The healer'll probably tell me tomorrow."

"Brilliant. Owl me then."

"Will do. Bye Ron."

"Goodnight, 'mione." He smiled and she waved as he walked out.

She turned to Draco and Adeline. "Do you two have to go too?"

"Yes, soon," Draco said mournfully. "Mother's going to want to know what happened."

"And why I'm covered in all this dust," Adeline said, looking down at her robes.

Draco squeezed her hand. "Will you be all right?"

"Yes, don't worry about me. I think I can feel my foot healing up. It'll probably just be an overnight thing."

Draco smiled. "Fortunately. Are you going to have to miss work tomorrow, then?"

Hermione grimaced. "Probably. I'm going to have so much to do when I get back. Genna is going to overwhelm me with things. It's a good thing I don't have any appointments tomorrow or else—wait, I have one with Jeremy Crawford and his parents! Oh, I'm going to have to owl Genna right now and tell her to reschedule that appointment. Or I'll owl her tomorrow morning. Yes, she probably wouldn't appreciate getting an owl at ten at night."

"Hermione!" Draco interrupted. "Don't worry about it. Genna will take care of everything once she knows you're not going to be in tomorrow. You'll be fine."

Hermione sighed. "I know the reporters are going to be coming soon. They don't want to lose a single minute."

As if on cue, there were footsteps in the hallway and a reporter and a photographer came in along with a healer. The photographer snapped a picture of Draco and Adeline crowded around Hermione's bed. Draco quickly dropped her hand.

"Hi Hermione Granger, I'm Gene Wilkinson from _The Daily Prophet_, and I'd like to ask you a few questions about the bombing at Picardo's Ice Cream Parlour."

"Pleasure to meet you, Gene." Hermione sighed. "And that's fine."

"Wait, wait. Why don't you blokes just let her rest up? She's had a mad day and what she doesn't need are a couple of reporters in her face," Draco said, standing. The reporter and the photographer exchanged looks.

"Draco, it's fine," Hermione said firmly. "You can stay if you want or leave. They're going to ask me questions either way."

Draco stared at Hermione for a moment and then glared at Gene before turning to Adeline. "Come on, Adi, let's go. We'll see you later, Hermione."

"Okay." She smiled and waved at the two. It was just her and the reporters left.

"Are you and Draco Malfoy together?" the reporter asked. He seemed rather excitable for a man of his size.

She laughed. "No! Of course not. We're just friends."

"Are you sure? He was holding your hand when we came in."

"I'm very sure. Don't you think I would know if we were going out?"

"I've heard rumours that you two have been seen together a lot."

"Only because my friends Harry and Ron keep bringing him along. And Ginny. And I bumped into him once outside of work."

"That sounds a little suspicious."

His pushiness was getting very irritating. "Did you come here to talk about the bombing or my love life?" she snapped. "The latter, I assure you, won't interest you _at all_."

The reporter took the hint even though he didn't seem to believe her and dropped the subject. He looked down at his notepad. "Okay, around what time did you arrive at the parlour?"

The interview appeared in the paper just the next morning. The mediwitch brought it to her bright and early with her breakfast. "Made the front page, you did," the witch said brightly before scurrying out. Hermione remembered Madam Pomfrey briefly. This bright and peppy woman was the exact opposite of her former school mediwitch.

She came back in and went to her feet. "So we'll 'ave you out in a jiffy, then," she said, touching Hermione's foot experimentally. "Does this 'urt?"

"No."

"This?"

"No."

"This?"

"No. I think its fine now."

"Good! I'll just get your paperwork ready and you'll be all set to go!" The mediwitch bustled out again before Hermione could say a word. She sighed and flattened out the paper. She had made the front page; a little corner of it. What really caught her eyes was the large photograph in the centre.

_Draco Malfoy Accused of Parlour Bombing But No Arrest_

It was a photograph of Draco, though it wasn't a current photo. Hermione's eyes widened and she read the article quickly. It was quite long and wrote of several witnesses who had seen him come out first, unhurt and other nonsensical things. Oh, how reporters made Hermione fume. Her heart felt like it was going to come out of her chest. This would put his reputation into the bin. She had to contact her friends as soon as possible to do something about it. And she continued to flip through the paper with shaking hands. What she saw next made her heart skip a beat.

_Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger Together?_

The short article brought up moments they'd shared since Draco had started working at the Ministry. It was absolutely idiotic. They twisted innocent things like having breakfast with him and Ginny into an awkward breakfast where Ginny was the third wheel. The photograph they took was even of the night before when Draco was holding her hand. She watched as he stared into her eyes, turning at the last minute to look at the camera before the photograph started over again. They'd conveniently cut Adeline out of it. She scoffed. If they'd tried to get an interview from her, they would have been shut down immediately. Good thing they hadn't tried.

Hermione clenched her teeth. If she couldn't do anything about Draco's reputation, she could do something about _this _bloody rubbish. Someone was going to be hearing from her. And she knew exactly who to put the blame on.

When Ron came later to pick her up, she was still angry. "Draco's been accused of the bombing, Ron!" she exclaimed. "Did you know that?"

Ron nodded solemnly. "It was inevitable. Harry didn't sign the warrant for arrest even though a few Aurors asked, so they couldn't go barging into his home."

"Thank Merlin Harry's in charge of the Aurors. But Draco's going to get real crap when he goes back to train. Oh, that git of an Auror probably wanted to arrest him!"

"What git?"

"Draco wouldn't tell me his name, but apparently there's this bloke that keeps ripping on Draco for being a former Death eater."

Ron shook his head. "Some people never learn," he said.

"But that's not all," Hermione exclaimed, whipping out the paper again. "There's another article about Draco and I! Listen to this: 'History continues to repeat itself without fail even in different circumstances.' What the heck is that supposed to even mean?"

Ron shrugged. "I have no idea. Let me see that." He snatched the paper and read the article briefly as they stood outside of St. Mungo's.

"It's absolutely mental, isn't it? It's not so much their insinuations, but their nosiness. I hate it when they prod their noses into my personal life!"

"Yeah, I hear you. So, your flat?" He grabbed her hand.

"No. Diagon Alley."

"You sure?"

Hermione nodded. "Let me at her."

Ron grinned. "You're a fright when you're angry, you know that?"

Hermione glared and he Apparated them there.

"Now don't go raising hell in there—"

"And why the heck not? She's making an absolute fool out of me! And don't give me any of that 'she had nothing to do with it' crap because she's the bloody head editor!"

Hermione stormed into _The Daily Prophet_ headquarters, startling the poor receptionist.

"Hello Ms. Granger. Do you have an appointment?"

"No. Just get Penelope Clearwater for me. Please."

"Yes, ma'am," the receptionist said timidly, cowering under Hermione's irate brown eyes. The girl scurried away not unlike the mediwitch.

"Hermione, calm down. It's just a stupid article!"

"Ron, you _know_ how I get when these stupid reporters start trying to meddle into my private life."

"You should know by now that we don't exactly have private lives anymore."

Hermione just glared.

"Ms. Clearwater will see you now," the receptionist said, not making eye contact. Hermione just stormed past. Ron followed, making sure she didn't upset any employees.

The irate witch burst into Penelope's office. The well-dressed witch blinked. "Hermione! Ron! What a surprise. What's wrong?"

"Don't ask me that! You know what this bloody paper published!"

Penelope frowned. "I didn't think it would upset you so much. I mean, you're usually understanding when it comes to these articles. You know how business is. Business is business."

"You mean creating articles from your friend's life to make money?"

"Darling, _I'm_ not the one writing these articles."

"Yes, but you're the last word on everything, and you send them out! And you find news for people to write!"

"Yes, dear, but you _clearly_ were found in a compromising position at the hospital. Look at this photograph." Penelope held up a fresh copy of the paper.

"_I had a bloody broken foot!_"

"Hermione," Ron said warningly.

"Okay, just calm down! I'm sorry it got out." Penelope shook her head. "You know how nosy my reporters get. Well, reporters in general. It was a good story though, was it not? Don't answer that. Clearly if it was about someone else's life you would eat it right up."

"No I would not!"

"Oh, don't be so pretentious, love. We're all suckers for a bit of gossip."

Hermione huffed. "Don't patronise me. I want you to stop printing articles about me. It's bad enough that Luna's doing it too with _The Quibbler_! At least most people know her information is mostly theories about her mythical creatures and _not_ about my love life." Her withering looks were beginning to tire her eyes, but Hermione tried her hardest not to show it.

"All right, I'll try to keep my nose out of your life. I mean the noses of my reporters, of course." She smiled. "We must have lunch though, dear. And I won't use it against you, I promise. We've both been swamped in work and it's time to take a break!"

"Good idea." Hermione sighed. "Sorry I went all insane on you."

"I understand. You do go loopy when personal articles are published about you. Lucky you know me." She smiled.

"But what about this one with Draco? Why he's being accused?"

"Darling, we must give the public _some_ news! We can't just take out everything that you're offended by."

Ron put a hand on her shoulder. " 'mione, let's get going. Sorry to bother you, Penelope."

"Its fine, Ron. I do have to get back to work, though. If you see Percy, give him my love, won't you?"

"We will," Hermione said, and Ron made a face of slight disgust when he turned his back on her. Hermione smiled at him and waved goodbye to Penelope.

"She and Percy are so lovey-dovey it's disgusting," Ron said once they were out in the sunshine. "And I thought Harry and Ginny were bad."

"Honestly, Ron, it's not like you and Lavender weren't like that 6th year. And I'm sure they thought the same when we were going out," Hermione teased.

"It wasn't all my doing," he replied defensively.

"Yeah, yeah." She sighed. "Well, anyway, take me home. I didn't get much sleep in the hospital. The bed was so uncomfortable."

"I wonder what Draco's reaction to the article's gonna be," he continued with a poorly suppressed grin. "They did get a good photograph of you two."

"And cleverly cut Adeline out." Hermione sighed again. "But I'm more worried about his reaction to the fact that he's being accused for the bombing." She threw the paper into a nearby bin.

"Penelope might have your head for throwing her beloved paper out with the rubbish!"

"I call it when I see it." Hermione smiled sweetly. "Now Disapparate or I will!"

Ron smiled and acquiesced.

"_Is this the one?" _

_She beamed. "This is the one. I absolutely love it. It's the right size, the kitchen's right next to the front door…everything's perfect." _

"_Perfect. Come on. Time to sign some papers." _

_In two weeks she was moving in and all of her male friends to help out. Not of their own accord, of course. _

"_Geez, you didn't tell me you had so many things!" _

"_Oh, shut it. Put that over there." _

"_Where do you want this?"_

"_Next to that bookshelf. Be careful!" _

"_Ouch!" _

"_Are you okay?"_

"_If you ever sanded this bloody bookshelf I would be!" _

"_My grandpa made that! Don't insult my bookshelf!" _

"_Well then tell it not to give me splinters!" _

"_Shut up, you big baby!" _

"_Do you guys _always_ have to fight about every bloody thing? We moved in the mattress and you were fighting about whether the mattress was springy enough!" _

"_Don't meddle into our business!" _

"_Don't talk to him that way!" _

"_Oh, good Merlin, we're going to be listening to this all day." _

"_I know. Help me move that." _

"_Just levitate it." _

"_Well aren't you brilliant." _

"_It's my best kept secret." _

_He laughed and she turned to look at them. "You guys want some lemonade? Mr. Boyfriend here refuses to work anymore until his splinter is out, so I'll give you guys a break too." _

"_Finally," one of them groaned. "You'd be a good slave driver, you know that?" _

_She just smiled. "I'll make some lemonade in my brand new kitchen. Are the glasses unpacked yet?" _

"_Nope. Here's the box." _

"_Thanks." _

_It took nearly six hours to move and unpack all of the boxes. Without magic it would've taken days. She cooked dinner for them on her new stove and kissed them all as a thank you. _

"_You were all wonderful," she gushed, and kissed her boyfriend again. "Thank you." _

"_You're actually a decent cook," he replied. "I never knew this about you." _

"_Neither did we," the friends piped up in between mouthfuls. _

"_I do have a few tricks up my sleeve." _

"_Take out?" _

_She hit her boyfriend's arm good-naturedly. "It all just looks so lovely. Thank you guys again. My flat looks wonderful! And it even smells brand new too." _

_A cat brushed against her leg and she leant down to pet it. "Do you like it too? Nice, isn't it?" She smiled and scratched behind its ears. The cat purred and then walked away, its tail swinging side to side. _

"_He seems to like it too," she noted, watching her cat walk into her bedroom. _

"_Well, go on, then," her boyfriend said. "Tuck in. You haven't even touched your food yet." _

"_I've just got so much to say, that's why." She smiled. "Good, you say?" _

"_Indeed. Eat up before I steal it from your plate." _

_She laughed and complied. It was a perfect meal to end a wonderfully productive day. _

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><p><em><strong>AN: I'm sorry so many of you are confused by the italics, but it also delights me because what I'm trying to do is working! Though I'll give you a tiny hint: pay attention to the time frames and the dates. Maybe that won't help you very much, and if it doesn't, well, just keep waiting for the end. Thank you for all of your reviews! They keep me going. So please fuel my imagination and review some more! :) Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, my lovely readers and reviewers. You all flatter me, especially you, PrettyPandaEyes. :)**_


	9. Pucker Up for the Birthday Boy!

**_A/N: First of all, I apologise profusely for taking so long to update and reply to your reviews! My new job has been eating up all of my time, nice as it is to be working again. Also, I thank you all for staying tune to this fic! I appreciate all of your reviews and so take the time to respond to all the ones that I can. Thank you for your support! You make my gloomy days brighter. And enough of my rambling, on to the story! (And if any of you has any ideas of what should come next, PLEASE feel free to review and tell me so! Because I sort of need inspiration from this point. I always have trouble in the middle of a story...anyway..) Please read and review! _**

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><p>Hermione was right in foreseeing quite a beating for Draco. Harry had almost fired Harold Remington, the bloke that had given Draco trouble. Harry had to make a speech concerning this event that all of those in the Law Enforcement department were required to attend. Even the Minister and his undersecretary came along.<p>

"Draco Malfoy has been our acquaintance, our coworker, our friend for almost six months now. You all know him and trust him as I do. There is no mistake that this bombing was a shock and surprise to most of you, and it was a great relief that no one was seriously injured, but it is no place to start pointing fingers at the only man who used to be a Death eater in our midst. He is a reformed Death eater now, as _all_ of you know. His position during the war was different than ours, but he has changed now. He has proven himself again and again to be a better person through his trainings, the workshops, conventions, and even during lunch hours. And I want _all _of you to remember our slogan: 'Forgive and move on.'

"This is what we are going to do: move on from this petty fighting and finger pointing. We know who the real culprit is, and many of you were there to witness his arrest. If my Auror team starts to separate and fall apart because of these false accusations against Draco, we cannot be a team to fight the real Dark forces that may still be out there. And this goes for all of us here in the Magical Law Enforcement department: if you do not know how to tell between good and evil, you do not deserve to be on this team. Forgive and move on and trust your coworkers because if you cannot trust your fellow Aurors, then whom can you trust?"

That ended that and everyone applauded, but not everyone was convinced. Draco was beginning to be shunned by many of his coworkers, but it did not stop him from constantly trying, pride be damned. Harry helped him along by constantly providing support. Remington was no help, though after two threats of being fired, he quieted his outbursts. Draco continued to crow at the daily lunches with the "Golden Trio" that it wouldn't last long.

Tuesday, however, brought a certain bloke's 22nd birthday. Harry had been preparing a surprise birthday party for him the weeks prior with Ron and Ginny since they'd heard that he hadn't had one before. Hermione had been dragged into it at first unwillingly, but she was becoming more and more excited about it as the date drew closer. Adeline had, unfortunately, left for Cambridge just a week ago, and while Hermione was sad to see her go, she was, very deep within her heart, very secretly, glad. She hadn't seen Draco without Adeline by his side in what seemed like quite awhile and it brought about unpleasant and very confusing feelings.

The finishing touches were being put up in the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley had generously offered her own home (after being convinced by her two children), and Harry had thanked her profusely. Said bloke was presently doing some late night training with Draco, more as a distraction than anything.

Ginny pointed to the window. "Quick," she said. "Get the curtains! We can't risk Draco seeing anything."

"This is awfully nice of Potter," Pansy Parkinson said sheepishly as she helped decorate. Harry had even gotten Draco's old friends to come. It had taken a little while to get Draco to share about his current friendships, but Harry had done it. Even a few coworkers were here to help out too. Many Aurors were reluctant to help but saw it as a way to get on Harry's good side and so complied.

Pansy, Blaise, Daphne, and Theo had all gone to Hogwarts and had been in Draco's house as well as his age group. Draco had confessed that these were the only ones that he felt were his close friends. They had all grown up quite a lot during the war, and their petty arguing now seemed so insignificant compared to everything else that had happened.

"Hand me my wand, will you?" Blaise called. Someone threw it to him.

Daphne had invited her younger sister, Astoria, along, and Hermione was a little jealous of the two girls. They were blonde, green-eyed, petite, and beautiful. Even Pansy had grown prettier with age. She was still shorter than Hermione and still had a pug-sort of face, but her dark eyes were enchanting along with her perfectly styled black hair. She certainly knew how to dress well too. Hermione wondered if Draco had ever dated any of them during their school days. They certainly were pretty enough, though their personalities had been dim and seemingly nonexistent during their school days. Draco and his friends were all pretty good-looking, except for Goyle. Speaking of which, he had declined the invitation without reason. Probably still held something against Draco.

"Hermione," Ron called, rousing Hermione out of her thoughts. "Make some more streamers near the window."

She nodded and did so, then peeked out. There wasn't anyone visible, and Hermione wondered if Draco would comply with going to the Burrow with Harry for no apparent reason.

"Hermione! Come on, help!"

"All right, Ginny. What do you need?"

"Conjure up a tablecloth or something to cover this blasted table. I _told_ Mum she needed a new one, but she never listens to me. It's probably older than Bill for goodness sake!"

Hermione ignored her rant and did as she asked. She spread the table cloth over it and then set out the plastic cups and the bottles of butterbeer and alcohol.

Ginny gasped. "Everyone! He's coming now!" she yelled. "You all know what to do!"

And twenty or so people suddenly disappeared behind tables, chairs, and into thin air. It was brilliant, being magical.

They heard the front door being swung open and Harry chatting. "That was a really good save, wasn't it? Mathias McCarnall is a bloody good Keeper."

"If only his other teammates were as good, then the Heidelberg Harriers would be nearly unbeatable."

"Honestly."

The swinging kitchen door was pushed open. Hermione was trembling with excitement and anticipation. The lights were flipped on.

"SURPRISE!" came the shouts.

The look on Draco's face was priceless, and everyone laughed before greeting him. Harry grinned at his trainee and slapped his back. "Happy birthday, mate!"

"You…you did this, Harry?" Draco asked, his grey eyes wider than anyone had ever seen before.

"Not alone. Everyone here helped out." He grinned. "Come on. Let's get you a drink."

"Here you go!" Pansy cried, appearing with a smile. "Happy birthday, Draco!" She kissed his cheek and put a cup of Firewhiskey into his hand.

"Pansy!" Draco exclaimed. "Daphne! Astoria! Blaise! Theo! Merlin, you got my old mates here." He barreled through to embrace his old friends. "I haven't seen you guys in ages!"

Ginny took Draco's place and kissed Harry's cheek. "You're a great man, Harry Potter."

"When one deserves it, I must give my kindness." He winked and Ginny smiled.

Hermione was at the refreshment table drinking a bottle of butterbeer. She was watching Draco interact with all of his friends and it evoked a warm feeling inside of her. She was glad that she had helped out after all. Just seeing how happy he was made it all worth it.

The party was still in full swing in the large kitchen an hour later when Ginny and Hermione brought the cake out. Everyone started to sing the "Happy birthday" song and Draco's face lit up like a child's. The lights were turned out and Hermione couldn't stop smiling as Draco stared at the fancy cake. The blue frosted letters were moving to spell out "Happy birthday Draco" and "You're old!". Draco laughed at the second one and when the song was finished, he made eye contact with Hermione briefly and smiled at her before he leant forward and blew out all twenty-two candles. His friends and coworkers erupted into cheers and broke out into song again, singing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow."

_For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow_

_For he's a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us!_

Ginny began cutting the cake as Pansy stepped forward and gave Draco a kiss. Daphne and Astoria did the same, and Draco laughed.

_And so say all of us, and so say all of us!_

_For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow_

"Am I supposed to expect a kiss from all?" he asked, laughing still. Ginny paused momentarily, grinning, and pulled his head towards her and pecked his mouth.

_For he's a jolly good felloooooow…! And so say all of us!_

"Again!" shouted Ron merrily, raising his glass, and the crowd complied, eager to hear their own cheerful voices again in song.

_For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow_

Ginny gestured for Hermione to join in the kissing and Hermione giggled as she watched Draco be accosted by several other girls. Lavender, Parvati, and Padma, and then Hermione stepped up and smiled at him.

_For he's a jolly good felloooooow…!_

She grabbed the back of his head, pulled him down to her, and planted a kiss on his mouth and pulled back with a smile. "Happy birthday," she said before pulling back completely. He was staring at her, a warm look in his eyes that made Hermione blush and turn away and disappear into the crowd.

…_and so say all of us!_

The jolly folks broke into cheers and several other girls, even some of his fellow female Aurors who had been reluctant to come, laughed as they kissed him as well, wishing him a happy birthday.

"Now have your cake and eat it too!" Ginny crowed, and everyone laughed and broke apart to mingle and eat cake. Hermione took her slice and sat down next to Ron at the kitchen table, laughing.

"Ron, that was fantastic," she exclaimed. "Who knew you had such a powerful voice?"

"I practise yelling, don't you know?" He grinned and tucked into his cake. "Helps when you have five other siblings to yell over and you're taller than most everyone here."

"I can see that. Lucky you," Hermione chuckled. She saw someone sit down on the other side of her in her peripheral vision. She turned face to face with Draco who suddenly kissed her, his face covered in cake.

Hermione exploded into laughter and pushed him away to get a better look at him. Her heart was racing unexplainably as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "What was that for?" she asked, looking around for a napkin.

"I'm returning all the kisses," he said, grinning madly, his eyes bright, and then he wiped some cream off of himself and smeared it onto Hermione's cheek before scrambling away from her.

She gasped. "Hey! Get back here!" she yelled, cake still smeared on her face. She leapt after him, grinning devilishly. She chased after Draco and threw a piece of cake that landed on his back.

"Get the birthday boy!" someone yelled.

"No!" Draco cried as everyone ganged up on him and began smearing pieces of their cake all over him. "These robes are expensive!"

"They're your work robes!" Harry exclaimed. "You can replace them!"

Helpless, Draco accepted his fate gracefully and thrashed only a few times before he was covered in cake. The attempts to get him covered resulted in everyone's robes becoming dirtied. Pansy, who had mastered a certain cleaning spell to get things off delicate robes and hair, used her special cleaning spell on herself before helping others get the cake out once the excitement had died down a little.

Hermione plopped down next to Ron who was still sitting in the same spot eating his third slice of cake. "You pig!" she said affectionately, and he smiled.

"I take the title graciously," he replied before stuffing another forkful into his mouth. "Honestly, this cake is good. Why would you waste it by smearing it on someone?"

"Because it's fun!" Hermione exclaimed, picking up an untouched slice. "When else could you smear cake on someone and have it be acceptable?" She dipped her fingers into the icing and pat Ron's face with it.

"Ah! Hermione!"

"You looked too clean," Hermione said innocently.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Sorry, my cake's worth more than revenge," he said. "You can watch me eat it all without smearing any on you." He grinned before finishing off his slice.

"Oh my. I'm so hurt. Your cake means more to you than me!"

"Sorry, mate." He winked. "You know how it is." He wiped his cheek. "Want some Firewhiskey?"

"I'm good." He nodded and picked up his rubbish and went to the refreshment table.

"This is going to be a mess when everyone leaves," Luna noted as she sat down next to Hermione.

"I know," Hermione said, looking over the area. "We'll have a blast cleaning it all up though."

"Draco looks like he's having fun."

"Yeah, he does. I've never seen him like this before. I wonder if anyone has." Hermione looked over at him. His bright blonde hair was hard to miss as well as his person covered in cake.

"He has quite the eyes too, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, grey. Don't see grey eyes very much." They were so bright and sparkly in the light.

"And his hair is really nice. White-blonde, too."

"He grooms himself nicely," Hermione said slowly. "Clean-cut, short hair…wait." Hermione turned to her friend. "Do you fancy him, Luna?"

Luna blinked at her with wide blue eyes. "Oh no, Hermione. But you do. I see it in your eyes all the time."

"W-what? What are you going on about?"

"The Snorkguffles are one of the new creatures I'm writing about. They're very rare, but one can see them when they're in love. Interesting, isn't it? Dean says he can see them." Luna gazed at Draco. "I think Draco can see them too." She shrugged. "But you're not interested in my theories. Not everyone is, and you're a logical person and all." Luna nodded and stood. "Hope you're having fun, Hermione."

"I am, thank you," Hermione said softly, absently.

"I can see the cogs in your brain moving, so I'll leave you alone."

And then Luna left Hermione with her thoughts.

The party ended at two in the morning when Mrs. Weasley, who had been hiding away upstairs with her husband, came down to shoo them all away. Nicely, of course. Draco, Harry, Ginny, Pansy, George, and Hermione were the only ones left to help clean up.

"It was brilliant of you all to stay and help," Harry was saying, "especially you, Draco. You shouldn't have! It's your own bloody party, after all."

"Yeah, well. Gotta be a gentleman and all that." He smiled. "It was bloody brilliant of you to invite the Aurors."

"Looked like they had a good time." Harry grinned. "Only came as a special favour to me, though they'll probably leave with more insight."

"Did you chat them up?" asked George as he magically mopped the ceiling.

"Of course. Couldn't let an opportunity pass like that." Draco smiled and waved his wand, making the rag wring itself out into a bucket. "Bloody hell. There's so much cake everywhere!"

"It was a good time though," Ginny said with a smile as she scrubbed out a few stains in the tablecloth. "Did you have fun, Pansy?"

Pansy nodded, focused on the cleaning charms. "Thanks for inviting us, Potter."

"It was really good of you to throw it too," Hermione said with a smile, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"All right, enough with the compliments. My head's bloated enough as it is." Harry took a break and poured himself a shot of Firewhiskey. "I'm smashed. I think I need to go on home soon. You guys'll be okay?"

" 'Course!" George said. "Though I'm leavin' right after you do. To tell you the truth, I'm barely standing right now." He grinned.

"Well thanks, George," Ginny said sarcastically. "Go on up. We'll be fine without you. Need help getting home, Harry?"

"Oh yeah. Wants to help Harry but not me. I see where your loyalties truly lie!" George slurred slightly. Hermione laughed.

"Would you like me to take you up, George?"

"Nah, I be fine." His magic stopped working suddenly and the mop dropped right in front of Pansy who squealed. "Just direct me to the stairs."

Hermione smiled and turned the twin and pushed him towards the right direction.

"Thankee, Hermione! I'll see you lot later." He began to sing loudly as he clambered up the stairs, making those in the kitchen giggle.

"Well, I'm off," Harry said, putting his arm around Ginny.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow, right?" Hermione asked, smiling slightly.

Harry grinned. "Count on it. After all, they sell hangover potions for only a couple Sickles."

Hermione laughed. "Goodbye, Harry Potter. Go home!"

Ginny helped Apparate him home, leaving Hermione with the ex-Slytherins.

"So, Pansy, I never really got to talk to you," Hermione said. "What do you do?"

Pansy hesitated before speaking. "I work on potions," she said. "I have an apothecary in Knockturn Alley."

"Oh. Well, that's great. Potions are really exciting to work with. I know I liked the subject quite a lot back in school."

Draco and Pansy both turned away.

"Um, are you two all right?"

"We just don't really like talking about our school days," Pansy said, intently focused on her charms still. "Not very pleasant, you know."

Hermione nodded. "I see. Sorry for bringing it up."

"No, it's fine. We won't cover our ears and run screaming if you talk about it," Draco said.

"And I thought all this time I could make you run screaming by just saying 'Hogwarts,'" Hermione joked. Draco cracked a smile. He seemed a lot more withdrawn now with Harry gone. She supposed nothing could beat the relationship between a trainer and his trainee even if they were former enemies. Well, maybe except family relationships.

Hermione didn't know what to talk about with Pansy and Draco, so she stayed quiet and continued to clean. In another half hour it was spotless, even sparkling.

"Well, we did a great job," Hermione said with a smile. "Good work, both of you."

"Thanks," Pansy said and yawned. "Merlin, it's late. I can't believe I stayed so long to _clean_." She reached up and kissed Draco's cheek. "I'll see you later. We should get lunch or something soon."

He nodded. "See you later, Pans."

"Bye. Thanks for inviting me, Granger."

"No problem. Bye Pansy!"

Pansy nodded and Disapparated.

Draco and Hermione looked at each other. "Well, most of the party guests are sleeping here," Draco noted. "Are you too?"

"No, I'm not drunk. Are you?"

"A little."

"Need help Apparating?"

Draco smiled. "Yeah, sorry to ask you."

"Well, I am the only one here so I guess that burden would fall on my shoulders." She sighed dramatically, then smiled. "No, it's not a problem at all."

"You sure?"

"Not like I have a choice, do I? Though I could leave you with all of the Weasleys here…"

"I like it at home, thank you."

Hermione smiled and grabbed his hand. She envisioned the Malfoy Manor back when she'd seen it last. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

She turned and Disapparated. They appeared in front of the manor, though it was much brighter than in her memories. It genuinely looked like a manor now, not like a stone prison.

"Why can't we just Apparate into your manor?" she groaned. Draco laughed and opened the large manor gates with a wave of his wand.

"It would make it too easy for an ambush," he said. "But I've got it from here."

He stumbled in and Hermione grabbed his arm to steady him. "Are you sure?" she asked, giggling.

"If you want to walk me to my door, by all means be my guest."

"I wouldn't want you to damage your pride by falling over in front of me." Hermione held his arm as he stumbled along. "How'd you stay vertical for so long cleaning?"

"I don't know, really. I was holding onto the table and chairs a lot, I remember."

"Ah, the secret to your success."

"You got it."

They crossed the front yard quicker than Hermione had imagined.

"Well, here we are," Hermione said, depositing him at the front step.

"Help me up the stairs," he said, holding out his hand. Hermione sighed and pulled him up again.

"Do you drink a lot?" she asked.

"Occasionally." He shrugged. "There was champagne there, though. You know how much I love it." He smirked and Hermione smiled.

"I suppose." She led him up the front steps and knocked on the front door.

"Well, Ms. Granger. Shall I get a birthday kiss goodnight?"

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I already gave you one earlier."

A house elf opened the door and its ears perked up at the sight of them both.

"Master wishes for more time?"

Draco smirked. "No, its fine, Kirky."

The house elf bowed again.

"House elf? Really?" Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"Hey, he's here of his own accord. Aren't you, Kirky?"

"Yes, Master. Kirky here because Kirky loves Master and wishes to serve no other."

Hermione sighed. "Will you take him up to his room then, Kirky, please?"

"Kirky be delighted!" The house elf took Draco's hand. He looked from Draco to Hermione expectantly. "No kiss goodbye?"

Hermione flushed and Draco laughed. "No, no, Kirky. Not tonight." He looked at Hermione, his eyes half-lidded. "I'll see you later, Granger."

"Goodnight, Malfoy. I'll expect to see you at work tomorrow." She smiled and Disapparated. She wasn't sure what would happen if she stayed much longer.

"_It's his birthday soon, you know," she said excitedly. "We've got to do something special." _

"_Why don't you have his own girlfriend throw the bloody party?" he groaned. _

"_Because! I can't just do that. You know he'd throw a party for me, for both of us." _

"_Don't count me in." _

"_But I thought you guys were on good terms with each other now. That petty argument behind us now?" _

"_Sure, but doesn't mean I'm going to throw a bloody party for him." He crossed his arms stubbornly and stretched out on her couch. _

"_Oh, come on. Please?" _

"_No." _

"_Fine. I'll find someone else!" _

_She owled all of her friends, and they all were willing to help plan a party for him. _

"_Great! I've got everyone. Now, to make the guest list. I suppose I should leave that to him, seeing as it'll be his party. We could rent a room at some inn. We could have it at the Three Broomsticks!" _

"_Will you shut it?" _

_She glared at him. _

"_I'm trying to take a nap and you're disturbing it immensely." _

"_Well forgive me for trying to prepare a nice party for a man I love." _

"_That would be me." _

"_No, not right now. I love other men too, you know." She sniffed haughtily and began making lists. The scratching of the quill seemed to lull him to sleep. _

_The next few weeks were busy with preparations, and finally the day came. Everyone on the guest list made it, and people from the papers were there as well to commemorate this event. "Thank you so much," he gushed to everyone when he stepped in and saw all of the décor. "It's really, really lovely." He couldn't stop smiling as people toasted to him and sang a birthday song and whatnot. All in all, it was indeed a very lovely party and she felt proud for being a part of it. Did she throw great parties or what? _

_After they had cleaned up the Three Broomsticks and had sent him to bed, she collapsed onto her couch, exhausted and slightly intoxicated. Her boyfriend came just a minute later via floo and he kissed her. "You're a great party-thrower," he said. "I'll have to remember to get you to throw me a party one day." _

"_Yeah, well, seeing as you didn't help out at all, I can't say the same to you. You're so stubborn, you know that?" _

"_Why we clash, sometimes," he said, kissing her again, "but we get along marvelously anyway. Come on, let's get you to bed. You must be knackered." _

"_You have no idea," she sighed. "Carry me." _

_He laughed but complied. He was awfully tall and the ground was awfully far away when in his arms. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes until he deposited her gently on her bed. _

"_Don't want to wash up?" _

_She smiled and waved her wand. With a quick charm she was all ready for bed, pyjamas excluded. _

"_Helpful spell, that," he said with a smile and kissed her. "Goodnight, love. Sleep tight. I'll see you tomorrow." _

"_You probably will," she said and yawned. "Goodnight." _


	10. My Comfort

The dreams were starting again. She'd thought that three years would be enough to keep them from coming, but she was always wrong. It always happened around the end of June. That was when she had gone back to get her parents.

At three in the morning she woke up gasping and crying, her chest heaving. She hated remembering that time. Though her relationship with her parents had gone back to normal, the first few weeks had been hell and she still had nightmares of her greatest fear: disappointing those she loved most. In her dreams, her memories would replay of the day they had ignored her calls and her pleas for forgiveness. She had cried every day for them to understand, and it took a week for them to finally listen to her. The next few weeks of dealing with their disappointments and ignorance of her reason along with their cold demeanor had affected her greatly.

She got out of bed immediately and used her old mobile to ring her mother. "Mum?" she said, still hiccoughing a little. Her mother sounded sleepy when she answered, but immediately became alert when she heard her daughter's tearful voice.

"What is it, Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked, concerned.

"Mum, I've been having those dreams again."

"Oh, my dear, I'm so sorry. To this day I wish I hadn't said any of those hurtful things."

"Mum, it's not your fault."

"Honey, I wish I could tell you something to ease you. I want you to know that your father and I love you very much. And we're so proud of you."

Hermione closed her eyes as the words soaked in. Her heart calmed.

"You know we were just upset then that you had almost killed yourself and used magic on us."

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry, Mum. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I understand that it was for your good. I love you, darling."

"I love you too Mom."

"Don't ever doubt that ever again. Now try and go back to sleep. Use something that will make the dreams go away."

"Dreamless sleep potion?"

"Yes, that."

"Can I visit you and Dad soon?"

"Of course! You know our door is always open. Though we are going to a dentist convention in a week."

"Okay. I'll try to drop by before then."

"We'll be expecting you, then. Now go to sleep, love."

"Goodnight, Mum. I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight."

"Bye."

Hermione hung up the phone and tried to take her mother's advice, but she was out of the potion and couldn't get back to sleep. She used to time instead to do the paperwork she had brought home. By the time she was finally able to doze off, it was time to get ready for work.

The Ministry was rather hectic all of a sudden. Hermione assumed that it was because school had just ended that children were misbehaving by the hundreds, eager to show off their magic outside of school even if they weren't supposed to.

Nightmares partnered with long hours in the office did nothing for Hermione's mental and physical state. She was exhausted every day even with the dreamless sleep potions.

Two cups of coffee in the mornings were enough to keep Hermione's eyes open as she worked, though the words blurred together occasionally. She wasn't very productive even during a somewhat important meeting with a 13-year-old troublemaker and her mother. Hermione tried to discuss the importance of keeping one's magic in control and tried to answer Mrs. Lychenski's questions, but the caffeine seemed to wear off in the middle of the meeting and she had to cut it short to recharge.

She spent her lunch hours taking short naps instead of eating with her friends, opting instead to snack on fruit while she worked. Her exhaustion peaked that Friday and she was forced to call in sick and she shut herself in to sleep all day. But once the daylight disappeared, she awoke, her back hurting and her bed feeling lumpy. Groaning in annoyance, she got out of bed groggily. She didn't know what the problem was. There were several sealed envelopes in her little letter catcher right outside of her window.

One was an invitation to go to a pub that night from Ron and Harry, another from Ginny asking if she was all right, and yet another from Draco asking if she wanted to get dinner again. Genna had sent her a letter as well inquiring about several appointments and about her health. It was nice to be sought after. She rejected all and answered Genna's questions and attempted to sleep for another half hour before moping around her flat. Atmidnight, someone knocked at her door and she peeked through the peephole, attempting to flatten down her wild hair.

To her surprise, Ron was outside. His red hair was unmistakable. Not caring that he'd see her in this disheveled state, she opened the door and smiled. And then her smile dropped.

"Oh, uh, I wasn't expecting you guys," she said slowly, and Ron flashed a smile.

"Since you couldn't come to the pub, we decided to bring it to you! You've been pretty off this week so we wanted to help you relax," Ron said, holding up a paper bag.

Hermione was too busy blushing and feeling self-conscious in her pyjamas to acknowledge his thoughtfulness.

"Sorry, the flat's a mess right now," Hermione said apologetically. "Come in, come in." She shot a look at Harry and Ron. "Thanks for giving me a heads-up."

Ron grinned. "No problem!" And he walked past her, leading Draco and Harry to the living room as Hermione fled to her room.

Ron had settled on the couch with Harry and Draco was sitting in an armchair when Hermione came out looking presentable. Her hair was in a plait and her face was washed. She donned on a bathrobe, though she didn't think the boys would be bothered by it. Well, Harry and Ron, anyway.

The boys were drinking alcohol out of her glasses and Harry scoot over to make room in between him and Ron. She sat and sighed, sinking into her comfortable leather couch.

"Having those nightmares again, are we?" Harry asked sympathetically.

She nodded. "Yeah. I called Mum last week and she sounded really sorry. I didn't want her to feel guilty so I stopped calling."

"Shoulda called us," Ron said and poured her a glass of mead. "Here, drink some."

"Thanks." She took a sip of the sweet alcohol. "So what were you all talking about?"

"Just work."

Hermione cracked a smile. "If I didn't know any better I would've thought that you lot were becoming work-a-holics."

"Good thing you know better," Ron said with a wink that made Hermione's stomach knot. She laid her head on his shoulder instead and sighed. She made eye contact with Draco in doing so, watching as he pursed his lips and finished off his drink.

"It was nice of you to come too, Draco," Hermione said, cheeks flushing a little in remembering the state of her flat. "I wish you'd have come a different time, though. When my flat wasn't like this."

Draco shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. Gives it the look that someone lives here. Homier."

"Well, it should, though it looks more like a home office to me. There're clothes all over my flat and dirty cups and dishes. Not paperwork," Ron teased, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"If you didn't know by now, I _am_ a work-a-holic."

"Amen to that," Harry said, raising his glass briefly before imbibing it. "Shall we turn some music on?"

"That sounds like an idea," Ron said, standing up and going to Hermione's dusty wireless. "Looks like this hasn't been used in ages."

"I haven't been in my flat very much the past few weeks," she explained as she poured herself another glass of mead.

A Weird Sisters song came on and Hermione wrinkled her nose. "I never really liked the Weird Sisters," she said.

"Hey, just because they're not very nice to look at doesn't mean their music isn't good," Ron replied as he came back to his seat.

"That's not what I meant!" Hermione exclaimed, though it partially did have something to do with her disdain for them. "Their music is fun to dance to, but not really my style. I'm not a fan of hard rock or metal."

"Neither am I," Draco piped up.

"Oh, come on," Ron said. "How can you not like this song?" He began to sing along. "_No stoppin' till the break of dawn. Put your hands up in the air like an ogre, just don't care. Can you dance like a hippogriff? Ma ma ma, ma ma ma, ma ma ma. Flyin' off from a cliff? Ma ma ma, ma ma ma, ma ma ma._"

Hermione thought of Ron and how confident and playful he was now in comparison to his younger self. She still remembered how insecure and self-conscious he was at eleven. At seventeen he'd been devastated and had been nearly a shell of his former self. She'd watched him and had helped him repair himself with her love and support. Losing a brother was hard as were losing friends in war. But here he was now, strong and happy and silly as he was. Watching the tall man in need of a haircut bounce up and down in his seat singing softly brought a small smile to Hermione's face.

"Ginny and I used to sing this around the house when we were younger," Ron chuckled, drinking from his glass and pouring himself another. "Drove Mum mad, it did."

Hermione shook her head at him. "The lyrics are absolutely ridiculous."

"I hate hippogriffs," Draco added. "Ogres don't even put their hands up in the air. Unless it's to smash something."

"Exactly! I'm glad at least you understand me Draco." Hermione sighed.

"Well, sorry they can't all be like Celestina Warbeck," Ron said dramatically. Hermione rolled her eyes. She always seemed to be rolling her eyes around him.

"And why not?" Harry joked in Hermione's defence. "You ought to know that Celestina Warbeck _must_ rule the wireless because she's Hermione's favourite singer!"

"Honestly, you two are acting like children!" Hermione exclaimed. "Just because she's my favourite singer doesn't mean I like to listen to her _all_ the time!"

"_Oh my poor heart, where has it gone? It's left me for a spell! And now you've torn it quite apart. I'll thank you to give me back my heart!_" Ron crooned, and Hermione hit him with a throw pillow.

"Shut up!"

He just laughed and drank his mead.

"These blokes." She shook her head and got up. She went and stood in front of Draco. "Mind if I sit on the arm of your chair?" she asked. "I think I'll go mad if I sit next to those idiots any longer."

"Hey! We're just teasing, 'Mione!" Ron groaned.

"Don't mind at all," Draco replied with a smirk. "I'd go mad if I was sitting with them too."

"I don't appreciate this Ron and Harry bashing!" Harry replied.

"Yeah! We're not heads of our divisions for nothing!" Ron added.

"Whatever." Hermione sat down on the arm of the comfy chair and drank from her glass and tried not to feel self-conscious next to Draco. She was just being silly.

"Shall I sing another song for you, 'Mione?" Ron asked, grinning.

"You're quite fond of singing all of a sudden," Hermione noted. "Did he drink much before he got here?"

"Five shots of Firewhiskey at the pub," Harry told her.

"Good Merlin."

"_Oh, come and stir my cauldron, and if you do it right, I'll boil you up some hot, strong love to keep you warm tonight!_" Ron sang, and Hermione laughed. How could she not laugh when he was like this?

"Bloody hell, Ron. You know these songs better than I do."

"Liar! You used to sing it all the time with Mum during the holidays!"

"Only because Molly loves Celestina Warbeck."

"Like you do."

"Oh, shut up!" The throw pillow she had been clutching went straight to his head, almost knocking his glass out of his hand.

"Hey! Careful! You wouldn't want your carpet stained, would you?"

"If you spill a drop Ronald Weasley, Merlin help me, I swear I'll murder you." A glare accompanied her threat.

"I know you would." Ron chuckled and drank from his glass again.

A silence fell between the four as they drank. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment as Lorcan d'Eath began to play, singing his famous love song. She hummed along for a moment before she opened her eyes.

"I haven't heard this song in ages," she said. Draco's eyes were fastened to the liquid in his glass as Ron and Harry leant back on the couch, sleepy-eyed.

"Want to dance?" Draco asked her suddenly, and Hermione smiled.

"Why not? I've had enough to drink."

Draco smiled and placed his glass on the coffee table and stood. He offered his hand to her and she smiled and placed her hand in his and another on his shoulder. She felt her stomach knot when his hand touched her waist tentatively. She met his eyes and smiled again before leaning her head forward and sighing.

It had been awhile since her last romantic relationship. She didn't know if it had been because she was still holding a small flame for Ron or because she hadn't been attracted to anyone else since him. Maybe both. But now, dancing slowly with Draco to Lorcan d'Eath's "Necks to You," Hermione felt more than uncomfortable. Not because he wasn't a great dancer, but because she suddenly felt self-conscious and nervous, silly enough. Draco's hand slid around her back, holding her close, and she closed her eyes.

She hummed along again as the chorus sounded, and Draco squeezed her hand lightly, so quickly she thought she had imagined it. His head had lowered and she could feel his alcohol-tainted breath on her neck. It struck her as funny that they were dancing—swaying—to a song called "Necks to You" with necks next to each other.

Her nose brushed his collar bone when she lowered her head, leaning her forehead against his soft jumper. His fingers shifted and they thread through hers, his grip tightening. "Hermione," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear and ruffling through her hair. Her heartbeat picked up at their intimate proximity, and she swallowed and opened her mouth to respond in kind.

"Oi! Why are all these love songs playing? Where's the good music?"

Ron's boisterous, though distant, voice broke their moment and Hermione opened her eyes and moved away as he fiddled with her wireless in the open kitchen. Harry had mysteriously disappeared.

"No! Ron! Don't touch it! That's one of the newer models. You're going to break it!" She rushed to him and slapped his hand away.

"Merlin, 'Mione! No need to get so touchy. I know how to work a wireless!"

In truth, Hermione was embarrassed at having forgotten Ron and Harry while she had danced with Draco. She was immensely glad they had left the room to give them unnecessary privacy.

Draco followed and pulled up a chair from the kitchen table.

"What do you want to listen to then, Ronald?" she asked snidely.

"What does it matter?" Ron sulked. "You're not going to want to listen to it anyway."

"Ugh! Don't be such a baby." She turned the knob till she got a clear sound of the Weird Sisters singing their hearts out. "Better?" She didn't wait for an answer but turned swiftly and stormed back to the living room. Thinking better of it, she returned in a moment. "By the way, where's Harry?"

"Here," the man in question called as he stepped out of the loo. "It's almost one," he noted. "I should get back home and get some sleep for work tomorrow."

"Good idea," Ron said. "I think I'm done drinking for tonight too." He finished off his glass and put it into the sink.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Hermione said as she levitated the other empty glasses into the sink. "Hopefully I'll be able to sleep better tonight." She met Draco's grey eyes again and she smiled.

"If you need, owl me and I'll come over," Draco said seriously.

"Same here," Harry and Ron declared in unison. They looked at each other and Hermione smiled.

"Thank you guys so much. I appreciate it."

She pulled her robe tighter around herself as she watched Harry and Ron pull on their jackets.

"Coming, mate?" Harry called to Draco.

"Yeah," he said, albeit reluctantly, and stood. "I'll see you tomorrow, Granger." He leant forward and kissed her cheek tenderly.

"Yeah, tomorrow." Hermione was a little stunned by the affectionate kiss.

"G'night, 'Mione!" Ron said loudly, smacking a kiss to her cheek as well. She smiled.

"Goodnight, Ron."

" 'Night, Hermione," Harry called from the door, and Hermione waved.

"Bye Harry! Have a goodnight, all of you."

"Thanks for not kicking us out," Ron added and winked. Hermione smiled.

"I'd never kick out any friends of mine out!"

"Love you too!"

Hermione laughed as Ron pushed Draco ahead of him and shut the door behind them. God, she loved her friends more than life itself.

_Another fight and she had left fuming. She had ignored everyone and everything for a little while before her temper cooled down considerably and she was able to look at the situation clearly. And she clearly was overreacting. Of course house elves were important, but just because he didn't care as much as she did didn't mean she had to end their whole relationship. It was just another flaw she had to accept about him because she loved him just like he accepted her flaws because he loved her. Very much. _

_She had left him alone for two weeks and by the first day of the third week, she popped over to his house. As if God himself had dictated it, he walked out onto his front yard, saw her, and then turned right on his heel and went back into his house. She, of course, followed. She saw him walking quickly up the stairs, already near the top, but she was in no hurry to reach him. She knew this house well. She followed him up and walked over to his room. She peeked in and saw him lying on his stomach on his bed, his fingers clutching a book in front of his face, his body propped up by his elbows. His eyebrows were furrowed in faux concentration. She went to him and curled up at his side, laying her head right on his lower back. She fingered his soft shirt. _

_He said nothing. She said nothing. And then she said ever so softly, "I'm sorry for being such an over-reactor." She moved her hand up his side and to his back. _

_"You should be," he grumbled and she paused. _

_He expelled air through his nose in a sigh. "I'm sorry for being so insensitive." _

_She smiled and ran her fingers down his spine and back to his side. She slipped her fingers under his shirt and touched his soft skin and watched the back of his head as he didn't concentrate on the book. _

_After a few minutes of their silence, she grew tired of running her fingers over his skin. Sometimes, like now, she had an overwhelming feeling of longing and wanted to be as close to him as possible. She sat up and straddled his back instead and wrapped her arms around his chest. "I missed you," she said into his neck, realising how much she really had missed him. _

_"I missed you too," he replied, and she kissed the spot under his ear. _

_"Sometimes," she continued between light kisses on the side of his face, "I wish I could just be around you all the time and we didn't fight so much." _

_"Fighting brings us closer," he countered immediately. "We fight because we're independent and we're trying to find a way to come together and we get frustrated. And then we fight." He dropped the book. "Our interests don't always have to match perfectly." _

_"That's life," she said and sighed into his neck again. He always smelled so good. Maybe it was his cologne or just his natural scent, but whatever it was, it smelled delicious. She just wanted to lie like this all day, though his arms would probably get tired from holding them up. _

_He made a movement with his body, telling her silently that he wanted to turn, so she loosened her grip on him and allowed it. Then she saw his lovely face again and she smiled, tucking her hair behind one ear. She stretched her body out so she was laying on him completely. _

_"I love you," she told him, kissing his mouth. His arms embraced her. When she pulled back, he smiled. _

_"I love you," he replied, "even though we fight so much. I'll always love you." _

_"Don't say 'always,'" she said, kissing his nose. His fingers combed through her hair. "You never know when 'always' will end."_

_"Fine. If it ends, it ends. But for now, let's just live in the present. And in the present, I'll always love you." _

_She giggled. "You're such a sap. What have I done?" _

_He reached up with his head to kiss her again. "You've done good, love." He rolled them over and propped himself up on his elbows again. He pressed kisses on her face. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you…" _

* * *

><p>AN: Well, the reviews weren't as plentiful as I'd liked, but oh well. I would like some feedback, however. Reviews help me grow as an author and to know what works and what doesn't. Thank you all who are reviewing! I appreciate your support/feedback very much :) Thank you for reading, and please tell me how I'm doing! (That sounded like one of those 'Tell Me How I'm Driving' bumper stickers on trucks with the number at the bottom, except mine would say, 'Tell Me How I'm Writing' with the review button). Hehe. Thank you for reading! And anyone intrigued by Pottermore? Eek!


	11. Lunch in France

"LUNA!"

"Hermione! I was afraid you'd gotten lost."

"I'm sorry, I did get a little lost. I'm not very familiar with France. But here I am! How are you?"

"I'm perfectly well! How are you?"

"Wonderful. What happened to Dean?"

"What?"

"Dean. Dean Thomas?"

Hermione sat herself down in the French café she, Penelope, and Luna had agreed to meet at for lunch that afternoon.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"Well, I spoke to Dean recently and we just happened to be talking about your expeditions around the world and he told me that you weren't seeing each other anymore."

"Oh, that." She shrugged in that careless way of hers. "My trips were too often for his liking and I wasn't going to stop them any time soon so we decided on a mutual break up."

"Ah. Did he take it well?"

"Yes! In fact, he suggested it."

"Oh! Really?"

Luna nodded. A waiter came by and they ordered tea and coffee before browsing through their menus.

"It was nice having a boyfriend for a little while, but I don't think he really believed in my theories. I collaborate a lot with my dad too because he's the only person I know who's really interested in my findings."

"Have you found anything new?" Hermione asked, more to make conversation than anything. The pastas looked tasty.

"Yes. In the outskirts of the Amazon, actually."

Hermione looked up in surprise. "The Amazon?"

"Yes. I found a new species I named the Tree-Hugging Ramblebat. It's an interesting thing indeed. It's a small little brown thing, the colour of tree bark, and it has a large mouth and long arms and legs. I'm not sure what it's good for, but it freezes in shock at bright lights. I know because I snapped a photo of it and it froze up. But when I tried to get closer, it leapt up high into the tree once it got a hold of its bearings and held on to it and was silent. I could hardly see it, it was so high and blended in so. Otherwise it talks on and on, rambling to itself when it feels safe. Perhaps that's how it finds its way around the Amazon. Here comes Penelope."

Hermione looked up and saw their friend sit down in the iron chair. "Penelope! How good to see you."

"Thank you. Sorry I'm late. Been busy at the office, I have. Have you ordered?" the witch asked, slightly breathless.

"No, you're just in time."

The waiter, Adam, brought their beverages and brought out his pen and pad to take their orders. Only Luna could speak French, which was why she had suggested they have lunch in France. One, because Luna was beginning her research here, and two, because it was such a lovely café. Hermione noticed, however, an elderly woman that kept glancing at them. She would look over at them, narrow her eyes, and then be disturbed by an employee or another. It was rather disturbing.

"Je vais commender la salade de canard," Luna said, and turned her eyes to Hermione.

"Um, oui. Crevettes a la provenkal," Hermione stuttered. She took a peek at the elderly witch again. She was talking animatedly to someone and Hermione wondered if she'd imagined it.

"Crevettes à la provençale," the waiter corrected, scribbling it down.

"Oui, merci," Hermione muttered.

"Et vous, mademoiselle?" the waiter asked Penelope.

"Bruschetta de flageolets," she said in her poor French. The waiter smiled and wrote it down, laughing at their accents, no doubt.

"Oui. J'ai la salade de canard, les crevettes à la provençale, et la bruschetta de flageolets," the waiter read. "Autre chose?"

"Non, merci!" Luna said, and the waiter nodded and left.

"When did you learn to speak French?" Hermione asked. "I'm always amazed at your accent."

"I had to learn it for my expedition. It would be difficult exploring here without being able to speak the language."

"What did they speak in the Amazon?"

"I have no clue. There weren't many people there, really, and those that were there spoke English."

"Are you writing an article about it soon?" Penelope asked.

"I'm working on it now. But enough about that. How are you, Penelope?"

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you dear. I've had to read over articles like mad all day today. It's the deadline for tomorrow's paper, you know. I'm so glad that there's a different head editor for _The_ _Evening Prophet_. I don't think I could have handled reading so many different articles on the same day. Speaking of which…" Penelope turned her eyes to Hermione, her lips curling into a smirk. "What's going on with you and Draco Malfoy?"

"Ah, yes. You and the famous Draco Malfoy."

Hermione felt her cheeks flush at their insinuations. "Absolutely nothing. We're just friends."

"Look at your cheeks! They're turning red!" Penelope exclaimed.

That made Hermione blush harder. "That's because you both are staring at me with your eyes near popping out."

"Come off it, Hermione, dear! There _is_ something going on with you two, isn't there?"

"No," she replied firmly. "We're just friends. I admit, I do find him attractive but it's not like I have a real crush on him or something. It's not against the law to find your friend attractive. He's friendly with some French girl named Adeline. You should focus more on her. And anyway," Hermione sighed, "I still don't know if I'm totally over Ron."

Penelope groaned. "Oh, come _on_! It's been almost four years since you two broke up!"

Hermione frowned. "No it hasn't!"

"Hermione, your little tryst with him a _year _ago doesn't count for anything. We all knew about it and you told Ginny who told me that you thought it was a mistake."

Hermione did remember saying that, as vague as it was, but she still found herself holding a little flame for him.

She rolled her eyes at Penelope. "You're being dramatic. It was only a few months ago." She was slightly red and Penelope suddenly paused, shut her mouth, and nodded after a brief glance at Luna.

"Right."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at their exchange but didn't question it.

"But seriously, what do you see in him? What makes him so special?" Penelope continued.

"He's…he's Ron," Hermione said lamely, and her friend rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, dear, don't be a dolt. He's not any more special than any other bloke in the world."

"Except for Percy?"

Penelope just smiled.

And then Luna spoke.

"Penelope, why didn't you tell us?" she asked in that soft, dreamy way of hers.

Hermione frowned. "What?"

"Can't you see it, Hermione? Why, it's right in front of you." Luna reached across the table and grabbed Penelope's left hand and held it up. A diamond ring sparkled in the sunlight and Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Penelope!" she squealed. "You didn't even hint at it!" She was surprised that the witch that normally bragged about everything had kept this huge surprise a secret.

Penelope was blushing and smiling. "Yes, well, it was rather sudden.

And you know how Percy gets with his secrets. He's afraid Molly'll blow her top with excitement when she finds out and that his siblings will tease him to no end."

"He's probably right, but Merlin! When did Percy propose?"

"Just a few days ago."

"And you kept it a secret from us for so long? You're horrible!" Hermione cried. Penelope laughed.

"Honestly, girls. I knew you would go berserk over this."

"Well how can we not? Being engaged is a big thing!"

Penelope smiled.

"Not as big as expecting a baby," Luna piped up.

Hermione's brown eyes bulged.

"What?"

Penelope was blushing hard again. "Damn you Luna, you beat me to the punch."

"It's obvious," Luna retorted as she clasped her hands together and looked into Penelope's blue eyes. "Your stomach is a little rounder and not in a bad way."

"I can't keep any secrets from you," Penelope huffed. Hermione's mouth was still agape.

"You're having a _baby_?" she asked, and Penelope smiled.

"Yes!"

"With _Percy_?"

"Who else?" Penelope scoffed. "Honestly, Hermione, use that brain of yours."

"I can't believe you're having a baby! _And_ that you're engaged." Hermione took a deep breath and sighed. "That is a lot to tell a person in one sitting."

"Don't worry, love," Penelope said with a smile. She rubbed Hermione's hand. "It'll happen for you soon too. Though not so soon for Ron, I think."

Hermione's heart tightened at the mention of Ron's name. She didn't know what to think of him anymore. Perhaps she'd always think of him as a little more special just because he was her first love. Her first everything.

"Charlie either," she managed to say.

Penelope scoffed again. "Honestly, that bloke is more interested in dragons than he is in girls."

"Not that there's really anything wrong with that," Luna said. "I'm sure he's lovely with dragons."

"And I'm sure Molly loathes it."

"She does have four other children to live up to her expectations. And she's preoccupied with little Victoire at the moment," Hermione defended. She rather liked Charlie.

Penelope smiled. "That child's a handful. Perhaps it's because I'm having my own child that I'm beginning to like them a little more."

"How far along are you?" Hermione asked.

"A month."

"I'm so excited for you!"

"Not nearly as excited as Percy is, right?" Luna asked.

"Yes. He nearly went through the roof when I told him. Happier than a lark. And then he proposed just a couple weeks later, at my office of all places."

Hermione laughed. "Tell us, how'd he propose?"

"Just came in, got on one knee and asked. Nothing too frivolous or ostentatious. Quick and simple, just the way I like it. Though he did bring flowers Bill had told him were customary."

"Figures," Hermione sighed. "No romantic gestures for you."

"Percy and I are above that. We don't need to make romantic gestures to express our love."

"I'm sure, after dating for seven years."

"As long as you can see those Snorkguffles when you're around him, that's all the proof you need," Luna added solemnly.

"Quite right," Penelope replied dreamily. Hermione smiled. She'd never seen her friend act this way, even around Percy. She was quite the girl in love.

Hermione was slightly jealous at how carefree Luna was with blokes and how she wasn't afraid to be alone. She was also jealous of how Penelope was engaged and was settling down with a bloke she'd been dating for a very long time. Not to mention that she was having a baby with him too. Not that Hermione really wanted a child of her own or anything. But still. It would be nice to know that someone really loved her enough to want to spend the rest of their life with her. As much as she thought about Ron, she just could not see herself ever marrying him.

"It's lovely eating with friends," Luna said suddenly. "I haven't eaten with anyone since my goodbye dinner with Dean before I left for the Amazon."

"How was that, anyway?" Penelope asked, and Hermione drowned herself in her thoughts briefly before mentally shaking herself and paying attention to the conversation at hand. It helped that the food came right then. It distracted her from wallowing.

It had to be something more than a coincidence next. Something that bordered on the planned on God's part.

"Hermione?" someone called, and the three girls looked up and Hermione looked over her shoulder.

"Adeline?" Hermione gasped, and Penelope shared a look with Luna.

"It is you!" Adeline exclaimed. She rushed over and embraced the witch from behind. "Sorry to barge into your lunch."

"No, it's fine!" Hermione smiled and stood up to give the girl a proper hug. "It's nice to see you again. What are you doing around here?"

"I live here! This is the café of my mother's!"

Hermione could hardly believe the words coming out of Adeline's mouth. "No way!"

"Yes! Strange, is it not?"

"Yeah. Really strange…" Hermione shook her head. "Sorry. Adeline, this is Penelope Clearwater and Luna Lovegood." She gestured to them with her hand. "Girls, this is Adeline."

"Adeline Rocher." Adeline shook hands with both girls and smiled. "I am pleased to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well. You're a friend of Draco's?" Penelope asked, smirking at Hermione.

"Yes! Our mothers are good friends," she said. "I visit England often and see him."

"She was in England recently," Hermione added. "Back in May."

"Yes, that is right. Now I am back home."

"When are you going back to England?"

"Perhaps next year," Adeline said mournfully. "Draco and his mother take turns visiting on holidays. He and Narcissa and Lucius come every other holiday to France."

The elderly witch that had been eyeing Hermione in the distance came forward then and spoke to Adeline in French. Adeline smiled and spoke back in the foreign tongue and Hermione pretended not to notice, though she caught her name and Draco's name here and there. She wrinkled her nose. Luna was listening to them and smiled dreamily to herself before taking a bite of her meal.

"What are they saying?" Penelope whispered, and Luna shook her head.

"Eavesdropping is bad, you know. Rude and all."

Only Luna and perhaps Bill's wife could get away with being so blunt. Penelope huffed and turned back to her meal.

"Hermione! I must introduce you to my mother," Adeline finally said, bringing the peeking witch forward.

The elderly witch was a thin and yet sophisticated woman. Adeline's mother was not very tall but she held herself up with grace and poise.

Mrs. Rocher looked very much like her daughter with tanned skin and clear blue eyes. Her light brown hair was tied in a bun and she had a kind smile.

"Welcome," she said. "Friend of Drago is friend here."

"Thank you," Hermione said, smiling back. "You are very kind."

Adeline translated and Mrs. Rocher nodded, smiled, and replied back.

"She says you are very kind too. She can see why Draco likes you." Adeline winked and Penelope smirked as Hermione blushed uncomfortably.

"Merci beaucoup," Hermione replied.

"I don't mean to be rude," Luna stated, "but our Portkey activates in another hour so we must finish our lunch."

"Oh! Of course! Sorry, sorry." Adeline smiled. "It was lovely to meet you two, Penelope and Luna. I hope to see you both soon. I will leave you to your lunch. Enjoy!"

"Goodbye, Adeline! I hope to see you soon too." Hermione pressed her cheek against Adeline's in an air kiss.

"Yes, of course!" She spoke to her mother in French and the two left.

Hermione sat down in her seat and sighed.

"Well that was rude," Penelope told Luna bluntly.

"I could see Hermione didn't want to be embarrassed by Adeline anymore," Luna said nonchalantly, and Hermione smiled.

"Thank you Luna. You were right." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm getting tired of everyone insinuating that Draco and I fancy each other that way."

"Well—" Penelope began but cut herself off when Hermione glared at her. "What?"

"Let's just eat and stay away from Draco Malfoy for awhile. Sound good?"

"Fine with me," said Luna. She began tucking into her meal and Penelope followed shortly after, albeit begrudgingly.

"She is a lovely girl," Penelope piped up a moment later. "I can see why Draco could be attracted to her. Maybe he has something for brunettes." She winked and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Please, try not to write any more articles on my love life or Draco's," Hermione added shortly after, and Penelope sighed deeply.

"Fine. Just because I promised you."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. You can write about your own love life and your new baby," Hermione winked, making the usually conceited Penelope blush.

"Isn't it a strange coincidence that Adeline's mother owns this café?"

"It would have been stranger if you'd brought me here on purpose," Hermione replied with a smile. "Not that you would have. I mean, you don't even know Adeline."

Luna blinked those big blue eyes of hers and smiled. "Yes." And she continued her meal. Hermione brushed off the look in Luna's eyes as a passing fancy. Luna always had that look of knowing something more than others. Hermione had just accepted it as "Luna's Look." It did always make Hermione curious though. What was she missing out on that only Luna and perhaps her father knew?

_It was the after-graduation party. People from all four houses had attended, though there were more Gryffindors than any other house. Even Slytherins had showed up, though they were in their own little group. Even war couldn't strengthen their resolve to break their old prejudices. _

_She wasn't drinking very much, though her friends were. She sat down at a table and laughed as one of them began attempting to talk to her very animatedly. _

"_That's great," she said, unable to keep herself from laughing. Fortunately they didn't notice and moved on. _

_He slid next to her and she smiled. "Hey you," she said and kissed him briefly. "I'm glad you came."_

"_I'm not so sure yet myself," he replied and she smiled at him. _

"_Don't worry. It'll be fun! Did you get a drink?" _

"_Yeah. Someone nearly threw it at me and spilled some on my shoes." _

"_Sorry about that. Drunk people aren't the best with their aim." She winked at him and he sighed and took a long drink. _

"_You'll survive," she told him, rubbing his shoulder. She kissed his cheek and he sighed. _

"_Did it really have to be here though?" _

"_Well, of course! We all grew up with the Three Broomsticks. It's sort of symbolic, in a way. Why? Don't you like it?" _

"_I don't know." _

"_What do you mean you don't know?" _

"_Madam Rosmerta isn't here for me to stare at." _

_She stared at him for a moment before slapping his arm. "Shut up!" _

_He smirked. "I guess you'll have to do." _

_She sighed. "Maybe it was a bad idea to invite you." _

"_No, no! Of course not. What better way than to celebrate graduation than with a drink with friends at the Three Broomsticks?" _

"_Well…graduation for us anyway." _

"_I love you, you know." _

_She blinked at him. "W-what?" _

"_I love you." _

"_Did you have too much to drink already?" _

_He smiled. "Don't be an idiot. I just got here."_

_She leant forward and kissed him spontaneously. "I love you too," she whispered and kissed him again. _

"_Oi! Knock it off, will you? Some of us have stomachs full of alcohol that's ready to be thrown up at that sight." _

"_Shut up," she told her friend good-naturedly. "Go yell at someone else. Like that snogging couple over there." _

"_Oh, Merlin, I'm not even going to look over there." _

"_Are you having a good time?" she asked, ignoring her boyfriend for the time being. Her boyfriend, miffed, took another drink. _

"_Yeah! There's much Firewhiskey in me right now I think it's gonna come outta my ears!" _

_She could certainly hear his slurs. _

"_Stop it now. It's not good for you." _

"_Uh huh. Well I don' care. I'm done, no worry. Don't worry." He smiled and she kissed his cheek. _

"_I'm glad you came too." _

"_Who threw this party anyway?" _

_She shrugged. "Don't know. I just heard it through the grapevine and showed up."_

"_Doesn't sound like something you'd do," the bloke on her left said sounding slightly bitter. A smile bloomed onto her face. _

"_Turn away for two seconds," she told her friend quickly before turning her head to the left and kissing her boyfriend's mouth. "Don't forget I love you," she said with a wink and turned back to her pissed companion. _

"_And where were we in our conversation?" _

"_Don' ask me. Go snog him some more. I think I'ma gonna go soon. Else I'll puke at the both of you." _

"_Want me to take you home?" She heard a snort from her boyfriend. _

"_Nah," he said. "I'll be okay. Don' worry 'bout me!" _

"_Are you sure? I can ask one of the Slytherins," she said innocently. He could hardly stand. _

"_Are you barmy? They can' see me like zis! This!" _

"_You sure?" she asked, poorly attempting to stifle her giggles. _

"_Ugh, fine. Can you help me get home?" _

_She smiled. "That's what I thought." She turned to him on her left and touched his shoulder. "Hey, would you mind coming with me to drop him off?" _

_He rolled his eyes heavenward before closing them and nodding. "I guess I have no choice, huh?" _

"_Well, you could stay here…" _

"_No." _

_She smiled and took his hand. "Let's go." _

_Dropping him off didn't take very long. It was a quick Apparition and a quick throw-him-through-the-door from Mr. I-Don't-Want-To-Touch-Him-With-A-Fifty-Foot-Pole, though getting him to bed was a little more difficult. But they finally succeeded in getting the poor bloke to bed and they went outside and sighed heavily. _

"_That took a lot of work," she sighed. _

"_Yeah. But it's over. And I've successfully lured you out of that pub." He took her into his arms and smirked. _

"_No, _he_ did." _

_He shrugged. "Doesn't matter who got you out. You're still out." He kissed her. _

"_I love you," she told him between kisses. She smiled when he pulled away, keeping her eyes closed. "Mm. I miss you when you're away." _

"_Don't be a sap." _

_She laughed and opened her eyes. They were sparkling in the dim lights. _

"_Shall I get you home?" he asked. _

"_Sure." She nuzzled his neck. "And maybe we can celebrate graduation a different way." _

"_If it's in the way I'm thinking then we're on the right track." He smirked. _

"_Couple butterbeers and a film?" she asked brightly. _

"_More like a couple drinks and bed." He winked and she couldn't keep in her laugh. _

"_Horny bastard." _

"_I love you." _

"_I know." She kissed him. "Maybe if you're extra good…" _

"_Don't worry, m'lady. I'll be on my best behaviour." _

_She grinned. "I love you so much." _

"_Don't say it if you don't mean it." _

"_I do." She kissed him. "Now come on. Those butterbeers are waiting." _

"_You sure do know how to celebrate." _

"_Maybe if you're extra lucky I'll read you a bed time story." _

_He raised his eyebrows and smirked again and she laughed and shook her head and Disapparated with him in tow._

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><p>AN: IT'S NEARING THE END! I love this story a lot more than the others I've written. I think it's just because I see how my writing has developed. Help my writing develop more! Donate a review! It is very appreciated. And it makes me quite delirious with happiness. Anyway, thank you all for reviewing/favorite-ing/story alert-ing my story! It helps me grow confidence as a writer that some people (even if it's just one) like it. Yay! Okay, I'll stop rambling. Please review, and thank you so much for reading!

(Another A/N:) I've decided I know how it's going to end, so I've been changing a few words and attitudes in the previous chapters (including this one). Sorry if you were excited about a new chapter...they're not big changes, but they give clues! So if you're interested...go search! And tell me in a review if you can find all the clues leading up to our mystery people in the italics!


	12. Matchmaker Wannabe

_A/N: I apologize ahead of time for this chapter. I know it's not very good, but it's because it's more of a filler chapter than anything. It also goes into more of Ron and Harry's character and shows a little bit of their real relationship, not just the way it's seen in Hermione's eyes. Anyway, carry on! I'll try to update more frequently, sorry. Please review! _

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><p>He took a deep breath and dipped his quill into the ink bottle. He brought the quill over the parchment slowly and then it hovered there. A drop of green ink dripped and was absorbed into the fibers.<p>

_Dear Hermione,_ he wrote. Then his fingers tightened and he threw the quill down, staining his desk, and crumpled up the parchment violently.

"Harry, this is hopeless," Ron groaned. "What are we supposed to say to her? She's never going to believe me."

"Come on, Ron," replied Harry. "Don't you want Hermione and Draco to get together?"

"It makes me a little sick to my stomach, to be honest."

Harry sighed. "_Ginny_ and _I_ make you sick to your stomach."

"Yeah."

"Come on Ron."

"She's not going to believe me!" he whined.

"Ron!"

"Why don't _you_ write it? I'm not good with words."

"Sure you are! You got Hermione to go out with you, didn't you?"

"So?"

"So that counts for something."

"Oh, come on! You've got the whole wizarding world at your feet!"

"That's only because I killed Voldemort. Twice."

Ron huffed. "Show off," he muttered.

There was a knock on the door and it opened and Ron scrambled for his wand. "Evanesco!" he exclaimed, pointing it to the rubbish bin. The pile of crumpled papers disappeared.

"Am I interrupting something?" Draco asked, peeking through.

"No, of course not. Come in," said Harry.

He narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to set me up with Hermione again?" he whispered, closing the door behind him.

Ron forced a laugh. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come off it Ron. You are bloody obvious."

"You fancy her, she fancies you; what of it?"

Draco sat down with a heavy sigh. "I think she likes you a hell-of-a-lot better than me."

"We're just friends."

"Don't lie to me. You have feelings for her still, don't you?"

Ron scoffed.

"You know Ron, you never gave me a straight answer on that," Harry said slowly.

The wizard in question furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you serious?" he asked, his blue eyes darting from Draco to Harry. The two blokes looked back at him and Ron groaned.

"Honestly!" he exclaimed. "I've been over her for awhile now. For at least a year!"

"You two are awfully close," Draco said slowly.

"As close as she and Harry are!"

"And you've dated girls pretty similar to Hermione or at least close to her in some way…"

"That's my type!" Ron spluttered. "Look, do you want to get with her or not?"

"Well I don't want to get in the way of your relationship with her," Draco replied snarkily.

Ron's ears were turning red. "Forget it! I don't want to help you anymore! You two are idiotic dolts."

Draco chuckled. "It's fun winding you up."

"Sometimes I wonder why we help you," Ron moaned, holding his head.

"Me too."

"You know why," Harry said, giving Draco a stern look behind his round glasses.

"Besides, we're sort of your friends now," muttered Ron.

"How can you tell she likes me?" Draco asked.

Harry grinned. "Try giving her a ring and see how she reacts."

"Just let nature take its course," Draco replied, ignoring him. "When the time is right, I'll ask her out. Just…please try and keep your noses out of it."

"Try and keep up from setting up our best friend's happiness," said Ron indignantly.

"Whatever. My break's over." He stood abruptly and Harry looked at his watch.

"Oh. My break's been over for awhile. Guess I'll be goin' back with you, mate."

Draco sighed. "Fine."

"Don't pretend you don't like my company," Harry said with a grin. "See you later Ron."

"Later."

The door closed behind the two men and Ron slammed his hand down on the table, making the ink bottle jump.

"Draco is an idiot!"

"Ron?"

Ron bolted straight up as his door opened again. Hermione came in and he gulped. "Why did you yell?" she asked, confused.

"Uh, I—I didn't," he stammered.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What did Draco do this time?"

"Almost knocked over my ink bottle," he said quickly. "You know how quickly this ink stains."

She walked over and blinked. "You know that it can be cleaned up with a quick spell. Tergeo." The ink stains on his desk disappeared and Ron smiled sheepishly.

"Thanks 'Mione."

"And you call yourself head of your division," she joked. "Which reminds me; the reason I came here was to talk to you about the budget. Is Harry around?"

"Just left."

"Well we've got to set up a meeting and talk about the budget."

"Right. Set that up with my secretary later."

"Ron, don't procrastinate. Pick a day you're free."

"I will, I will! Or she will!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Ron."

"Hermione, trust me. If you don't trust me, then trust Kritsia. She's a good secretary."

Hermione huffed. "Sometimes your procrastination is irritating."

"Isn't it always?" he sighed and Hermione glared at him.

"I'm going to talk to Harry."

"Fine."

She walked out of his office, closing the door a little harder than usual and Ron sighed. Between Draco and Hermione, he could hardly tell which snit was worse. Mad, they were.

_She had been studying for this day since O.W.L.s had ended. Though she hadn't been able to study much during the war, she had made up for it when she'd come back to school. And now she entered the testing room filled with her peers and some students that had been a year below her before. She caught his eye and she went to sit beside him. _

"_It's not in alphabetical order or anything, is it?" she asked and he shook his head. _

"_Don't think so." _

_She took a couple of deep breaths, excited to get the exam. She was confident of herself. After all, she'd been studying for quite a long time. _

"_Nervous?" she whispered. _

"_A little. You?" _

"_Not really. I studied an awful lot for this." _

_He smirked. "I would expect nothing less from you." _

_She smiled and then the professor came in. The professor passed out Anti-Cheating quills. _

"_If I catch a breath of any one of you cheating, you will be failed. You have two hours to finish the exam. At the end of two hours I will collect your parchments and you may go when you are finished." The exams were passed out with a wave of her wand. "Begin." _

_Needless to say, she received all O's on every subject. He received five O's and one E. _

"_Classes are almost over," she exclaimed, and he smiled. _

"_That they are. Nearly." _

"_Are you going to come to graduation?" _

_He shrugged. "Maybe. Not sure yet." _

_She nodded. "You should come. Watch all of your peers graduate." She smiled and he shrugged again. _

"_I think you might be the only one who went back to school. Everyone else finished. Or at least nearly finished." _

"_That should be reason enough to come." She winked and he smiled took hold of her hand. _

"_Right."_


	13. Finally!

It was official: four of the remaining 6 Weasley siblings were married or engaged to be. George had finally planned for his Quidditch-themed wedding to Angelina Johnson to be in six months, Percy and Penelope had been engaged for a week and a half now, and now Ginny was gathering people over for her little engagement celebration. Hermione wondered why it was that the Weasleys were so lucky in relationships.

It really was a very small and very late notice gathering at eight in the evening. Hermione entered Harry's flat in Kensington and smiled. If Hermione's flat was messy, Harry's was worse. But she was pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness. She assumed that Ginny had something to do with it. If Ginny was good at anything, she knew how to be a good hostess. It was probably a trait from her mother.

Harry and Ginny were there of course, as well as Ron and Draco; the usual. Luna hadn't been able to make it because of her research in France and Penelope had work. But Fleur was there with her little two-year-old. Victoire was looking blonder and cuter than ever, though Hermione had no doubt that her hair would turn redder with age.

"Congratulations Harry and Ginny!" Hermione squealed and rushed through the small living room to embrace them.

"Thank you!" Ginny gushed and showed off her beautiful diamond ring.

"Wow! That is so beautiful. Good choice, Harry," Hermione said, winking at her best friend. He smiled.

"It took ages trying to find the perfect one."

"I love it." Ginny kissed him on the cheek and he grinned at her, starry-eyed. Hermione blinked. As happy as they were, she wasn't sure if she could take all the public displays of affection.

"I brought you guys some champagne to celebrate," she said, pulling it out of her beaded bag and handing it to them.

"Thank you Hermione! You didn't have to. Oh, let's pop it open," Ginny exclaimed excitedly. She brought over some glasses as Harry popped the cork. Hermione took her time to look over at Draco. He caught her eye quickly and she smiled at him. "Care for some champagne?" she asked, and he smirked.

"Doesn't seem to be anything stronger to drink around here so why not."

"Oh I have some vodka in the fridge," Harry began, but Draco quickly cut him off.

"No, champagne's fine." He caught Hermione's eye and winked. She smiled and then caught sight of Ron playing with Victoire.

"Oh, Victoire!" she exclaimed and rushed to the child. "Hello Fleur! It's so good to see you again," she said, kissing the French witch before greeting Ron the same way. "Little Victoire had grown so much!"

"Yes, she 'as," Fleur said. "Though she ees a pain sometimes. She cries too much, but she seems to like Ron a lot. You are a good uncle, Ron."

Ron just smiled and bounced the baby up and down.

"Here, let me hold her," Hermione said, but before she could someone handed her a flute of champagne.

"Here Granger," Draco said. "Cheers." He smiled and tapped a glass against hers before handing another to Fleur and Ron.

"Thank you." She bounded over to Ginny and Harry and tapped her flute with theirs. "Congratulations, you guys. I'm so happy for you both!" She turned to the small group and raised her flute in the air. "I propose a toast! A long and happy marriage for Harry and Ginny. I hope you guys are always happy together." The couple couldn't stop smiling. "To Harry and Ginny!"

"To Harry and Ginny," the others echoed before raising their glasses and taking a drink. Hermione gulped hers down, an unexplainable feeling rising slowly in her chest. She forced a smile. "Pour me another, will you?" she asked, and Ginny did so with delight.

"You're wonderful, Hermione!" She kissed her cheek and smiled.

"Thank you, Gin. I'm going to play with Victoire. 'Scuse me."

Hermione squeezed past Harry and went over to Ron again. "Hello Victoire!"

The child started kicking her feet, trying to get down from Ron's lap. "Down! Down!" she cried in her little voice, and Ron acquiesced. Victoire ran around and Hermione watched her with affectionate eyes.

Victoire came back and pat Hermione's knee. "Ice cweam! Aunty!" she said.

Hermione looked over at Fleur for guidance and Fleur shook her head silently. She turned back to the little girl who was gazing up at her with big blue eyes.

"Sorry Vicki, Mummy says no."

"But ice cweam, Aunty! I wan' ice cweam!"

"Sorry honey. No ice cream."

Tears were starting to fill her blue eyes. "Maman! Cwème glacée! Aunty, ice cweam," she whimpered, and Hermione tried to pick her up. "ICE CWEAM!" Victoire wailed suddenly and threw herself on the ground. "ICE CWEAM!" She pounded her little fists into the ground and kicked her feet.

Fleur was there immediately and apologised once before sweeping Victoire up and taking her outside, scolding her in French.

"You sure have a way with them," Ron teased, and Hermione punched him in the arm.

"Shut up." Babies never liked her. She finished her drink and went to pour herself another.

An hour and a half later she was leaning against the back of the couch and listening to Ginny's favourite band playing on the wireless, her head resting on Ron's shoulder. The champagne had been drained long ago and the wine had been brought out. Fleur had calmed her baby in ten minutes (Hermione considered her a tantrum-controlling genius) and Victoire hadn't thrown one since. Draco had talked to Ginny and Harry for most of the time and once with Fleur in complete French. Now he was in the kitchen mixing drinks with Harry while Ginny charmed flowers and conversed with Fleur about her wedding dress. Ron was currently charming little Vicki and tried not to bounce his shoulder too much. Hermione found him sweet.

She sat straight then and drained her glass and poured herself half a cup more. "You've been drinking an awful lot," Ron said with a smile.

She smiled back. "Yeah. I don't do it often and I don't have work tomorrow, lucky enough."

"Lucky you. I have loads of paperwork to do when I get back." He groaned. "But I get to hire a new secretary. The last one bailed on me. Said I was too controlling or whatever." He snorted. "She was rubbish at her job anyway."

"Lucky you. More hiring paperwork and résumés to go over."

He groaned again and released Victoire from his hold. "Lucky me."

Hermione turned around in the couch when she heard the kitchen door open. She had been watching the newly engaged couple for the last hour. She had seen the sneaky looks they passed each other, the identical idiotic grins on their faces, the constant puppy dog eyes they wore. Merlin, it was disgusting. She supposed she should be ecstatic for them, but honestly. Could they be any more, well, revolting about this?

It wasn't like she was jealous or anything. Of course not.

She turned to Ron who was doing a fantastic job of attempting to stay oblivious. At least he wasn't complaining about their public displays of affection. The last time he had yelled at them, he had strained his relationship with Harry and his sister had screamed at him. She wondered if he ever felt lonely, seeing his siblings getting engaged and married so quickly. She wondered if he ever felt as lonely as she did.

He turned to look at her and his brows raised in question. Spontaneously (she blamed it on the wine) she leant over and kissed him. The last time she had really kissed him had been awhile ago. Back when he had still loved her like that.

Something broke at the kitchen door and Ron pulled away much too quickly. She blinked at him hazily.

"Aw Hermione, you're drunk!" he laughed, and she turned away and imbibed the rest of her drink.

"Getting there, anyway," she replied and turned around and rested her arms on the back of the couch to watch the people behind her. Draco was cleaning something furiously as Ginny assured him that it was a cheap cup and that the stain in Harry's rug finally allowed him to get a new one. Draco wasn't really listening and so Hermione watched Harry take Ginny's hand and kiss it gently.

She felt slightly sick once again and turned around to pour herself another drink. Her glass was gone.

"No more for you," Ron told her and she sighed.

"S'not good for me anyway."

"Snot good for you?" he snickered and she rolled her eyes.

"So immature."

She turned back around. Draco was back on his feet now and muttered a spell under his breath. The broken glass deposited itself into the bin. He looked up and met her eyes and then turned away. He looked frustrated and Hermione fancied that it was because he didn't want to see her kissing Ron. Did he like her too? Or did he just feel like the odd man out? She smiled. Sometimes she enjoyed drinking because her brain allowed stupid thoughts like that last one.

"I don't think I've been intoxicated in awhile," she said.

"You're not even that far gone," Ron told her. "Once you start singing you'll be done for."

Hermione laughed. "Thanks."

"I must be getting 'ome now," said Fleur suddenly. "Eet ees getting late and Bill will be 'ome soon. Victoire needs to go to bed too. Eet was lovely seeing you again, 'ermione!" She pecked a kiss to her cheeks and did the same to Ron. "I will see you two again soon. Say goodbye, Victoire."

"Don' wanna go," the girl cried half-heartedly.

Ron kissed the girl's forehead and Hermione gave her a hug as Fleur said her goodbyes and congratulations to Harry and Ginny. She finally bid goodbye to Draco before heading out with a sleepy Victoire in tow.

Hermione closed her eyes and leant back on the couch. She felt like rambling about herself. The delicious smell of a certain cologne enveloped her olfactory senses before she felt his presence on her left and the couch sinking slightly.

"I wish I were better with kids," she said to no one in particular and she felt him touch her hair lightly.

"Don't we all. They run from me."

She smiled blindly. "It's probably your height. You were nearly four times Victoire's size."

"Oh, and Ron's height isn't?"

"Well, he's a Weasley." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "They're used to each other."

"I don't know if that was an insult or a compliment," Ron spoke up on her other side, and Hermione turned to smile at him.

"I don't know either."

Draco's upper body was turned to her, his elbow resting on the back of the couch, a drink in his other hand. He looked stiff.

"What're you drinking?" she asked.

"Something you shouldn't have," he retorted.

"Looks like a martini of some sort to me." She sighed. "Ron told me I shouldn't drink anymore."

"He's right, of course." He sounded a little bitter, Hermione noticed.

"I should get home," she told him.

"I can't believe you're drunk already."

"Shut up. Did I tell you Luna, Penelope and I ran into Adeline?"

"Where?"

"In France."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed. "What were you doing in France?"

"Having lunch with the girls. Luna wanted to have a last lunch with us in France before she began her research so we did. Turns out that the café we went to was owned by Adeline's mother."

"Ah." Draco said absently. "What were the chances of that happening?"

"Seriously. It was so weird."

"What café?" Ron asked, smiling a little. "I'd like to visit."

"It was called La Petite Café. Not an original name, but it's a cute little place."

"Hence the name," Draco added.

"Sounds nice," said Ron blissfully.

"You going on a date with Adeline probably sounds nicer," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

Ron grinned. "It sure does. I should've asked her to the Memorial Ball."

"Too bad you already had Hannah. Speaking of Hannah, has she and Neville gone on a date yet?"

"Nope. He's still a blubberer when it comes to asking girls out."

Draco smirked but didn't say a word.

"I think anyone would be. 'Cept for maybe Draco here."

Ron snorted and Draco finished off the rest of his drink.

"I don't think Malfoy's exempt from that," Ron said.

"Okay. Maybe you then."

It was Draco's turn to snort.

"Shut up Malfoy."

"You shut up Weasley."

Hermione laughed. "This reminds me of school."

"Duel at dawn?" asked Ron.

"Deal."

Hermione giggled and stood up, suddenly feeling unsteady on her feet. "Whoo. I should get going." She walked over to Ginny and Harry.

"What are you doing after?" Ginny asked.

"Go home, have dinner, read."

"Sounds boring," Ron called.

"Sounds perfect for Hermione," Draco drawled and Ron snorted again but didn't say anything.

"Congratulations, you guys." She kissed the two goodbye and went to kiss Ron on the cheek.

"Night Ron," she said and sighed.

"Got a hold of yourself 'Mione?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"I'm still pretty clear-minded. My body just won't cooperate a 100% with my brain."

"That's what alcohol does to you," Ron replied with a grin.

"You gonna go soon?" she asked.

"Nah. I'm gonna stay here a little longer."

"Okay."

"Are you going to be okay getting home?" Draco asked, suddenly at her side, and Hermione smiled at him.

"Want to accompany me?"

It took Draco a second before he replied. "Sure."

"Take me home then," she told him and took his pale hand. "Only fair since I took you home last time." Her teasing was met with a silent nod.

"Goodnight everyone," he called instead.

"Make sure she gets home safe," Ginny replied.

"See you at work tomorrow, mate."

"Yeah, see you Harry."

Hermione, tired of waiting, opened the door and, with one last wave, walked out. Draco shut the door behind them.

Once they were out of the building she stopped him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"It's clearly something."

"Nothing important then."

"Oh come off it. You've been like this ever since I kissed Ron. If you must know I didn't mean it that way. We're just friends."

"Do you like him?"

She was silent for a moment, contemplating her answer. "I don't know," she said softly. "Call me mad but sometimes I don't think I'll ever get over him. Or maybe it's 'cause I'm lonely, like I've got a piece of my heart missing. After all, Harry and Ginny were starry-eyed and all over each other and it made me feel self-conscious about my own love life. And I know Ron doesn't have much of one either. He goes on a lot of dates but he doesn't commit. He comforts me when I'm lonely. And I don't mean with sex or a snog or anything like that." She laughed but for no reason. It wasn't that funny.

They started walking again silently. Hermione turned her head towards him when a thought came to her.

"Come to think of it, you never talk about your love life. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Oh. Well that's boring, though I guess I'm not one to talk." She snorted. "Me who's probably never going to get married. Merlin, where did I go wrong?"

"That's what I ask about myself all the time," he replied and put his hands in his pockets.

"Where are we going?" she asked suddenly.

"Your flat."

"My flat's that way."

"This is a short cut."

Hermione looked up at him. "How do you know?"

"Uh, the last time I went there we walked there from Harry's flat. Remember when we brought the pub to you?"

"Oh yeah. I didn't know that."

"Well, you never asked."

"Wait. Didn't Harry say that you guys came from the pub?"

"I guess. I don't remember what he said, but we went from the pub to Harry's place and then to yours."

"Why did you come with me?"

Draco looked a little relieved at her change of topic. "To make sure you don't get lost or something in your state."

"Ah. A gentleman to the end."

"You asked me to walk you, you dolt," he replied, a little smirk on his face. She could see his mood improving even if it was slight.

Hermione smiled brightly and put her arm through his. "Right. But you didn't have to come."

"Watching Harry and Ginny secretly mack with Ron around isn't exactly a pleasant thing to stay around for. Though I'd love to see Ron's reaction when he catches them."

"You think they'd be able to get a hold of themselves. They've been dating for goodness knows how long," Hermione scoffed.

"They're engaged. It's something to be excited about."

"Yeah, but they're like this all the time."

"They're in love."

"I guess they've got a passion for each other that will never die out."

Draco was silent and Hermione looked into his face. He looked deep in thought and so…attractive. Maybe it was the street lights or something that accented his face and his blonde hair looked soft to the touch and she was suddenly burning with curiosity. So she released his arm and reached up to touch his hair. It _was_ as soft as it looked. Unfortunately she had also disturbed the bearer's thoughts and now he was looking at her, his grey eyes warm as they walked.

Hermione smiled suddenly. Honestly. Sometimes she felt like a complete idiot around him. She trailed her hand down his temple to his jaw and down his neck, over his shoulder and to his bicep and pushed him into the next alley they passed. Then she almost knocked him over with the force of her leap.

Now Hermione wasn't usually such a forward girl, especially when it came to kissing someone like this. But with a mixture of alcohol in her system along with all the hints Draco had conveniently dropped, she was fairly sure she wasn't going to be rejected and was even more certain that he wouldn't mind. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his, her toes brushing the dirty ground as Draco's back crashed into a wall as he stumbled, his knees buckling slightly, his hands clutching the wall behind him.

He was a little slow to respond, Hermione thought.

Then he reached out and his hands cupped her face, moving after a moment to press her back fiercely against him and keeping her where she was. He bent down so her feet were back on the ground. His lips were insatiable and Hermione could hardly keep up with him. His hands were on her cheeks now, and he was kissing her like a new lover. Hermione pulled away and tried to get a breath, but she hardly had a gulp of air before he was at her again.

His lips detached from hers for only a minute as he kissed every part of her face before worshipping her lips again. A little moan escaped her throat when his tongue came out to play and there they snogged in the dirty alley that warm summer night.

When he finally pulled away Draco kept his eyes closed as he tried to catch his breath and Hermione leant her forehead against his chest and kept her arms tight around his waist.

"Hermione." He sounded soft and hoarse. "You're not that drunk are you?"

Hermione just laughed softly.

"Please don't tell me this didn't mean anything to you. Hermione, I can't kiss you and pretend like it meant nothing," he panted.

"Me neither," she breathed. "Not after a kiss like that."

"Hermione. Merlin, Hermione, will you go out with me?"

She pressed her lips together against his shirt to suppress her smile. "I'd like that more than anything."

She heard his disbelieving laugh of euphoria and she pressed herself against him.

"More than anything?"

She couldn't suppress her smile anymore and she beamed at him. "Well, I might want Crookshanks back alive more than a date, and maybe a new dress, a yacht, perhaps, oh and the—"

"Shut up." He leant down and kissed her again and she smiled.

"So what do you want to do on our date?" she asked.

"That's for me to plan and you to enjoy." He winked and Hermione rolled her eyes at him with a smile.

"Come on. Take me home."

"With pleasure, love." He took her hand and led her out of the alley. "Also, great place for a kiss," he said. "Good thinking."

"Shut it!" She smacked his arm and he laughed.

As they walked down the sidewalk, a question came to mind. "How long have you liked me?" she asked.

He smiled. "Let me think. It's been so long. Probably since I saw you again at the Ministry."

"Oh, come on! Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously."

"No way."

"Don't believe me?" He kissed her cheek.

"I guess I have no choice but to." She shrugged.

"How long have you liked me for?"

"I don't know, really. I've been attracted to you for awhile. Since the ball at least."

"Not too bad." He smiled.

"I don't do well with unrequited feelings. It's good to know that I was wrong in my assumptions." She kissed him.

"Did you assume I didn't like you?"

"You never seemed like you did. Till recently, I suppose. Then I knew. Otherwise I wouldn't have had the courage to throw myself at you."

He chuckled. "I'm glad. If I was any more blatant it would've been me throwing you into an alley and snogging you. Well, it probably would've been at work, not in a ruddy alley."

She laughed. "Shut up! You're going to be on my back with that forever, aren't you? I can already imagine you telling our friends. 'Yeah, we had our first kiss in an alley. How romantic is that?'" She watched him chuckle again and found it endearing.

They reached her flat in a short time and she looked down the street they had just walked on. "Wow, that was short."

"Told you."

She smiled at him. "Fancy a cuppa inside? You can tell me all about your feelings."

"Ugh, feelings." He groaned and Hermione laughed.

"Yes, everything about them."

He took her hand and kissed it. "If I didn't l—like you so much I would've refused. But alas, I shall oblige for your sake."

"I feel so flattered." She waved her hand in front of her face and pretended to swoon. He shook his head and chuckled.

"Let's go inside."

"As you wish." She kissed him briefly and opened the door to her complex.

_She was nervous. Beyond nervous, actually. If either of their friends knew they were here, there'd be a lot of explaining to do. Especially since they wouldn't be telling their best friends. Well, they were both independent people and could do whatever they wanted! She could just imagine what _his_ argument would be against that. Whatever. _

_She saw him sitting in a private booth far in the corner. The Three Broomsticks was always such a nice, friendly place. It was even warm in the coldest month of the year. The sight of a couple third-years here on their Hogsmeade trip warmed her with fond memories and she listened to the friendly music playing in the background. A couple people were even dancing. She smiled. Spring would be coming in a couple months. She could wait. The Three Broomsticks would always make winter cheerful. _

_She joined him at the table. His eyes brightened at the sight of her, something that did not go unnoticed. She blushed. _

"_Hi," he said. _

"_Hi," she said. _

_There was a slightly awkward silence, and then she giggled. _

"_We going to stare at each other all day?" _

_He snapped out of his goofy stupor and said, "I'll get us drinks. Butterbeer?" _

"_Fine with me." _

_He left and she watched couples dance on the floor. She even recognised a couple of her peers drinking and having fun. She had planned to have a girl's day out today, till he'd asked her out. Finally. He should've just asked her on a date on Christmas day. As if giving her a bloody ring as a present wasn't obvious enough. Said ring was sparkling on her finger now, not that he'd noticed yet. _

_He returned soon enough with two butterbeers in hand. He handed her one and held it up. She mirrored his action. _

"_To a perfect date?" he offered, and she smiled. _

"_To a perfect date." She tapped her mug against his and took a long drink. "Mm, it's always so delicious." _

"_Well said." He wiped his mouth and grinned at her. "You've got something on your mouth." _

"_Where?" she asked, wiping her mouth furiously. _

"_Here, let me get it." She knew it was more of an excuse to touch her than anything, but she allowed it as he cupped her face with his hand and gently swiped her top lip with his thumb. _

"_Got it," he said, slightly hoarse. She pushed his hand away and rubbed her mouth against her sleeve for good measure. He wiped his hand on a napkin and cleared his throat. _

_She was blushing. "Thanks." _

"_How's school been going?" _

_She nodded. "It's been okay. Lots of work, but of course I'm up for the challenge." Her eyes brightened as she continued to rant about the coursework and the new professors and how living in tents was. She was in the middle of explaining the new headmistress's obsession with safety when she noticed that his mug was empty. _

"_Merlin, I've been going off, haven't I?" she said breathlessly. "I'm so sorry. Let me go get another for both of us." _

"_I like listening to you talk," he said. "But okay." _

_She rushed over to the bar, berating herself in her head. She was becoming flustered; she had never imagined going on a date with him before. Well, that was sort of a lie. Not till recently. _

_She went back to the table composed. "Enough about me; how have you been lately?" she asked as she handed him his butterbeer. _

"_Okay," he replied cryptically. _

_She raised an eyebrow. _

"_I mean, there's nothing new going on with me, really. And you know everything important." _

"_I suppose, but I want to hear you talk for a little while." _

_He talked about studying and finding a job, but he couldn't talk like she did. They fell silent for a little while till a familiar song came on. She smiled. "Hey, I know this song. It played during the Yule Ball." She noticed couples getting up to dance and she touched his hand. He raised his eyes. "Let's dance, since we didn't get to dance together in fourth year." _

_He snorted and she stood up. _

"_Come on! Please?" _

_He hesitated. _

"_Please?" _

_He sighed and stood. "Fine. If you want to." _

"_Thank you!" she exclaimed and pulled him onto the floor. She put one hand in his and another on his shoulder. "Here, you put your hand on my waist like this," she told him. _

_He looked like he was going to say something but held his tongue. _

"_Just brushing up your dancing skills," she said quickly. "We didn't have much time to do so during, well, you know." _

_A soft silence fell over them as they reminisced. _

"_Well anyway," she said, trying to brush off those memories. "I'm glad you asked me out." _

"_Are you having fun?" Worry was in his eyes and she knew that he was lacking his usual confidence. He'd lost a lot of it in the war. _

"_Yes, I am." She smiled. "Just being with you is fun in itself." _

"_I don't see how. I'm so…boring." _

_She laughed. "If you're boring, then what am I? All I talk about is school and professors and myself." _

"_But you're so interesting! That's why you have so much to talk about. Not to mention you're beautiful." He let his free hand twirl a bit of her hair. _

"_Now I'm going to turn red," she groaned, and he smiled. _

"_People are beginning to stare," he said into her hair and she pressed her hand into his shoulder. _

"_Let them. I like being here with you and that's all that matters." _

_He chuckled. "Wonder what he's going to say about this." _

"_He'll be okay. He has his own girlfriend." _

"_Yeah, but—"_

"_Don't ruin it. We'll tell him soon enough." _

"_We?" _

"_Well yeah, if this date goes well, we'll be together." Her eyes sparkled and he smiled. _

"_Our first dance," he said instead, trying to hide his delight at her comment. "Isn't that supposed to be special or something?" _

_She laughed quietly. "Yeah. Are we going to make this our song now?" _

"_Sung by a vampire?" He wrinkled his nose and she smiled. _

"_As long as I'm 'necks to you' I'll be happy." _

_He laughed. "Was that supposed to be a pun?" _

"_Yes. Did you hear the emphasis in my voice?" _

_He leant down and nuzzled his nose against hers. "How could I have missed it?" _

_She smiled and pulled back. "Come on. Let's go for a walk." _

_They pulled on their winter wear and stepped outside. It had started snowing lightly and she held his hand as they walked through Hogsmeade. _

"_I don't like the snow very much," she said. "Makes me feel sad. I like it when it's warm and I can actually do things outside." _

_He shrugged. "I kind of like it." _

"_Fits in with your dark brooding nowadays, doesn't it?" she teased. He didn't respond and she began to sing. _

"'_Next to you, as long as I'm next to you I'll be all right. Let your skin touch mine as we dance in the night, necks close and warm without light.'" _

_He chuckled, his breath frosty. "He's a bit obsessed with necks, isn't he?" _

"_Well, he is a vampire. But I like that song." _

"_And I like your voice." _

_She smiled and hummed the song. _

"_Is that going to be our song now or something?" _

"_Yes." She smiled. "Hurray for mainstream wizard's music." _

_He smiled and squeezed her gloved hand. They were making their way towards the hill facing the Shrieking Shack. She sang the verses she knew and hummed the rest of the song. _

"_Is it stuck in your head yet?" she asked, and he nodded, his thoughts elsewhere. _

"_I'm really glad you agreed to go out with me," he said seriously, and she smiled. _

"_Did you have any doubt?" _

_His lip twitched. "After you accepted that ring, no." _

_She smiled. "You didn't even notice I was wearing it!"_

"_Of course I did. I just didn't say anything. I might've kissed you on the spot if I did." _

_She watched him with flushed cheeks as he reached up to pluck off a thin branch from a tree. Snow suddenly fell onto them suddenly and she gasped in surprise. _

"_It's so cold!" she squealed. She let go of him and started brushing it off her hair when she suddenly felt warm, soft hands touch her snow-covered cheeks and lips on her mouth. _

_It was suddenly very warm. _

_He pulled back after a moment and let out a breath. "Was that…okay?" _

_She opened her eyes slowly, a warm smile encompassing her face. _

"_Did you take your gloves off?" _

_His face reddened slightly. "I didn't want a piece of cloth blocking your face from my hands." _

_She smiled. "You know, you're more romantic than you let on." _

_His smile bloomed steadily, and then disappeared when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. His arms came around her and held her close as humanely possible as she bestowed kiss after kiss onto his mouth. A hand snaked into her hair and she pulled back for a large gulp of air. _

_His lips touched the bridge of her nose, eyes still closed, and she touched his face, smiling. "You can open your eyes now," she whispered. _

"_Don't want you to disappear on me." _

"_Well how would you be able to keep track of me if you can't see me?" _

_She escaped his arms as he opened his mouth to respond. His reaction was instantaneous and just what she wanted. _

"_Hey!" _

_She laughed and ducked behind a tree. He came after her and she continued to run, giggling. She looked around a tree and, not seeing him anywhere, turned to run off again when he suddenly appeared right in front of her, smirking. _

_She gasped and then laughed as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace. His head burrowed itself into her neck and she laughed again. _

"_Disillusionment charm? Not fair!" _

"_Never said I played fair." _

_She giggled as he pressed a kiss to her neck. "That tickles!" _

_He stopped and raised his head. "Do you—" He faltered suddenly. "I…"_

_She watched him as he struggled to get the right words out. _

"_I like you a lot, and I don't want us to go on just one date. If you liked it, I mean. It's up to you. I know that I want to go out with you again. Probably as a boyfriend, if you'll, you know, go out with me. Be my girlfriend, I mean." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Merlin." _

_She laughed and kissed him. "You don't have to worry about that. I wouldn't want us to go on just one date either. And I would like you to be my boyfriend." _

"_You know, I don't smile so much when I'm not around you," he breathed. _

"_Maybe because you want me to be 'necks to you,'" she winked. He smirked. _

"_Something like that." _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: No reviews? :( Makes me sad.**


	14. The Truth

It had been a week, three days, nine hours and seventeen minutes since Hermione's date with Draco, not that anyone was counting. She was on cloud nine, could see the goodness in everyone; she felt like no one could do any wrong. She worked with pleasure and, at her lunches with her friends, held hands with her beloved and looked at him in such a way that it disgusted her friends. Now she understood how Ginny and Harry felt.

Now one week, three days, nine hours and eighteen minutes later, she was sitting at her desk working viciously to get all her work done before the weekend. She had another date with Draco planned tomorrow evening and she couldn't wait. Only twenty-six hours to go.

Ron came in then and Hermione greeted him warmly. "Hi Ron! How are you doing on this lovely day?"

He just blinked at her and sat down. "I'm fine. All right?"

"I'm splendid!"

"It's nice to see you! Sorry I haven't made it to our usual lunches."

"That's fine. Busy with work?"

"Yeah. There've been a couple protests that have threatened to become more violent near the Ministry, but it doesn't seem to be too serious. They're protesting stupid things like better wages for the workers rebuilding Hogwarts. It's stupid though because the construction people aren't the ones protesting. It's some young, rebellious kids. The construction workers are perfectly fine!" He sighed. "Just got to stay on our toes, though. It means more paperwork for me." He groaned and Hermione sighed.

"I just wish everything could stay lovely and peaceful. Isn't everyone tired from the war?"

"Guess not. Most of the protesters are those who weren't in the war."

She shook her head. "Sometimes I get so sick of people." She smiled. "But not now. I love people. They just all need to understand things sometimes."

"I may regret this," Ron began slowly, "but how was your date with Draco?"

Hermione smiled like a fool, making Ron blink at her sudden change of character, and she put her quill down.

"It was _amazing_," she sighed, and Ron laughed.

"You look—never mind. What did you guys do?"

"He took me to dinner and we talked about everything under the sun."

"Really."

"Yes. And he told me _everything_," she said dreamily. Ron raised his eyebrows.

"Everything?"

"Yes. About his feelings, the reason why he got a job as an Auror, the constant reminder of our past, why he did what he did; there was a lot of explaining."

"And you're not upset?"

"No! Why would I be? It was understandable."

Ron blinked. "Wow. I didn't think you'd be so forgiving."

"Well, it was in the past. It's weird to think of the way that we met, though. I never thought I'd date someone like him, especially after all that he did in the past."

He nodded and bent down to tie his shoe. "Yeah, it was weird. One run-in at Flourish & Blotts and all of a sudden you guys were going out. And he wasn't even going to Hogwarts then either. Well, neither were me and Harry, but still. I'm just glad he was good to you, though he nearly killed himself when it ended. It was bad enough that he'd erased your memory, and I thought you'd be—"

He noticed her bulging brown eyes had lost their dreamy countenance when he surfaced and he suddenly cowered. "What? What did I say?"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about?"

"What? I—" He cut himself off when realisation dawned on him too late. "I thought you said he told you everything!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing! Heh. Must have been talking about someone else." He rubbed his neck uncomfortably.

She stood up dangerously. "Ronald Bilius Weasley you tell me everything. What the hell was this all about my memory being erased?"

"Merlin, Hermione. You should warn a bloody person before you say things like that!"

"Ron!" she shouted and he grit his teeth.

"I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Ron, so help me God, I will hex you if you don't tell me right this instant."

"I'm not allowed! Someone else is going to hex me if I do!"

"I will hex you _and_ that other person if you don't tell me _right fucking now!_"

"Fine, fine! But don't hex me when I'm done. Hex Draco."

Hermione closed her eyes and Ron began to blurt out the story.

When he was finished, Hermione nearly blew a casket.

"WHAT THE HELL!" she shrieked and then paused. "Wait. What does that mean? When…hold on. When did we break up then?"

Ron frowned. "A long time ago. After that kiss during the war we went out for eleven months or so and then broke up, but we had little flings here and there. Don't look at me like that, it's just how it happened! Our last one was right before you and Draco got together, maybe a couple weeks before. Though we snogged when you guys were together that one time…but anyway, around two years ago."

She almost blew another casket. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL! I thought this whole time that we'd broken up April of this year!"

"Well, it was April, but of 1999."

"SO MY MEMORY'S BEEN ALTERED THAT MUCH? Oh my goodness. I need to talk to Draco. MY MEMORY? Sorry Ron, I—I need to go cool down."

Ron, who was near shivering now, was gripping the arms of his chair. "Did I ever tell you you're a real fright when you're mad?"

"Yes. Many times."

There was a very long, awkward pause as Hermione attempted to control her temper.

"Er, can I go…?" Ron squeaked.

"Yes!" she nearly shouted and Ron scrambled out. After he shut the door, he sighed, relieved that he hadn't been hexed.

"Mental, that woman is," he muttered as he walked away.

Inside, Hermione began pacing furiously. "What the hell? How did he do it? And I wanted it? How the hell did that happen? I have to ask to see his memories. Maybe he has it in a Pensieve? Why the hell would he pursue me again? Is he mad? Am I mad? My Merlin, I must be. I must be going mad. Mad!" She gripped her hair in frustration when someone knocked on her door.

"Yes?" she forced out.

Genna opened the door. "Ms. Granger, Michael's sent the reports."

"Okay." Hermione was nearly shaking with the effort to stay calm. "Just put them on my desk. I'm going to have to take the rest of the day off."

"Oh. Why?"

"P-personal reasons." The look on Hermione's face must have scared Genna because she did as she asked and ran out with a quick, "Hope you feel better, Ms. Granger!"

Hermione closed her eyes but set about packing up and donning on her jacket before Flooing back home. She screamed. Then she sent an owl to Draco.

_Draco,_

_Please come to my flat right away. It's urgent. _

_-Hermione_

"I can't believe he erased my memory. I can't believe he erased my memory. I can't believe he erased my fucking memory," she muttered to herself as she paced. At his lunch hour (did she really have it memorised? How pathetic!), she heard a knock at her door and she flew over to open it.

"All right, Her—" He cut himself off at her state. "My God, what's wrong with you? Did something happen?"

"Draco," she said in her false calmness. It sounded so fake even to her own ears. "Won't you come in?"

Draco stepped in with the knowledge that he was probably going to get yelled at. For what? He had yet to find out.

Hermione closed the door quietly, locked it, and then turned around. "YOU ERASED MY BLOODY MEMORY!" she exploded, and Draco's eyes grew wide.

"What?"

"DON'TLOOKAT ME LIKE THAT! RON TOLD ME!"

"He _told_ you?"

"HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO THAT!"

"You wanted it!"

"HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO ME ABOUT EVERYTHING?"

"No! Calm down and let me explain!"

"YOU HAVE ALOTOF EXPLAINING TO DO!"

"Let me explain," Draco repeated patiently.

Hermione took a deep breath and sighed through her nose. She took another deep breath. "How did our relationship start?" she asked finally. "Tell me everything from the beginning. And I mean _everything._"

"You may want to sit down," Draco advised, but Hermione shot him such a withering look that he backed down and sat down himself.

"Like I told you, I didn't go back to school to finish our seventh year like you did. I had tutors at home and so I didn't meet with a lot of our old classmates. One day in early September, around a year after the war, we ran into each other at Flourish & Blotts. We were both buying textbooks for school. We chatted and we just seemed to click. We were suspicious of each other, of course, but we were both so tired of war and fighting that we just gave up in keeping up our old prejudices, me especially.

"So we hit it off and we planned another meeting. Butterbeer, you said. And so we met at the Three Broomsticks and talked some more and suddenly we were owling back and forth and I was beginning to like you more and more. Once I got over my general idea of how you'd been at school, I realised how deep of a person you were. And I guess you realised that about me as well because when I asked you out in, around January, you accepted.

"After that we dated for about a year and a half. After our N.E.W.T.s, I had so much trouble finding jobs and I was too afraid to apply to be an Auror because of my Death eater status, even if I regretted it immensely. You were so supportive during that whole time. You were really happy too, during the early years of our relationship. We even had a song: 'Necks To You' by Lorcan D'eath. You used to love that song. We were at the Three Broomsticks on our first date and that song started to play and we danced to it. We went on a walk later and I kissed you then. It was a lot more romantic than kissing in an alley." Draco smiled at the memory and Hermione narrowed her eyes. She had taken a seat by now, listening attentively.

"I helped you move into your flat with Harry and several others of your friends. That's how I knew the shortcut to your flat. I'd walked it hundreds of times. I was with you when you got your job and you promised to write a recommendation for me if or when I applied to be an Auror."

"Am I the recommendation that Harry was talking about?" Hermione gasped, and Draco nodded grimly.

"You're to thank for my job. I've been working here for longer than any other place I worked at since we graduated school. But anyway, after I stopped being so timid and self-sacrificing towards you—I didn't feel like I deserved you—we started to fight a lot. It was so out of character to me, being so self-sacrificing and trying to atone for what I'd done in the war, but that was all you'd known during our relationship. I was always there for you in the beginning, at your every whim, and suddenly I wasn't. You were brassed off at that and I was tired of you depending on expecting me to constantly be with you."

"I would never expect that of you!" she exclaimed.

"That's because you didn't know me then."

"So our relationship ended because I couldn't handle you not being by my side twenty-four seven? Merlin! Blame it all on me, then!"

"Let me finish! I'm not blaming it on you. I'm just saying that my sudden change of character unnerved you and we got into fights. We could've dealt with these fights except for that fact that I started drinking a lot to deal with it and you disapproved of that."

Hermione nodded. She still disapproved of drinking one's problems away.

"That caused even more fights and then Daphne Greengrass got divorced from her husband. You've seen Daphne; she's beautiful. So you started getting insanely jealous when I went to go comfort her. You saw me going to her at every beck and call instead of yours and you started to get jealous and that caused even more fights. And then you snogged Ron a couple months after our first year anniversary."

Hermione frowned. "Yeah, he told me that I snogged him, but I didn't know that it was so close to an anniversary." She had felt bad about that. She'd used her best friend that had been in love then with her _and_ had cheated on her boyfriend at the same time.

"Yeah, ours. And I saw you two, and that image is probably going to be seared in my mind for all eternity. That's why I was angry when I saw you kiss him at Ginny's celebration gathering. Well, frustrated anyway. I felt like nothing I was doing was working and that you were going to end up with Ronald Weasley anyway."

"Continue," she ordered, and he obliged.

"And then it all suddenly seemed to go downhill after that. Not really suddenly, I suppose. I drank more thinking that you didn't love me, and you had no idea that I had witnessed your snog and tried to keep it a secret from me. I tried hinting that I'd love you even if something happened that threatened to break us apart, but you pretended that nothing had happened. It hurt me that you couldn't trust me with such a serious infraction, so I drank even more and then at an office party that I was invited to, I got smashed and woke up naked next to a coworker."

"Oh, Merlin. He told me about that too. I can't believe you did that."

"I can't either. It was terrible and I was blessed that I couldn't remember a thing. And I felt so horrible that I had to go smoke to clear my head, and I _never_ smoke. And obviously after that I told you and it broke your heart which broke mine and broke our relationship."

"And then?"

Draco took a deep, shuddering breath. "Merlin, and then…and then you told me you wished our relationship had never happened, that you wished that I had died, that you wished I'd never pursued you and that you hadn't said yes to going out with me." He closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed thickly. "You said a lot of awful things to me that night we broke up and the days following. It was like all of the good times we'd had could not add up to that one awful deed that I was so resentful of."

Hermione could see herself being like that, but she didn't tell him.

"And then you told me over and over that you wished you could just erase _us_ from your memory. You even went as far as to ask Pansy for a recipe for a selective memory-erasing potion and then gave it to me. I think you were just trying to emphasise your point, but I took it too seriously and brewed it up for you, thinking that it was going to be for the best. The best for you, anyway. The same time I did that I brewed up a poison to, well, you know."

"I can't _believe_ you did that either."

"I couldn't imagine living in a world where you didn't love me. Living a month and a half without you was absolute torture."

"Whatever. Go on."

He sighed and looked at his hands. "You were hurt when I gave you the potion, even though I didn't understand why then, and the look of absolute disgust in your eyes was enough for me to drink my potion and then you drank yours."

"Merlin! I cannot believe you would do that!" Hermione stood up, incensed, and opened her door. "Get out! I don't want to hear anymore!"

"Will you just listen to me, damn it? You asked me to tell you!"

She glared at him. "You erased my memory and almost _killed_ yourself!"

"_You're_ the one that wanted it! You told me, and I quote, 'I wish I could just erase our whole relationship and just pretend like it never happened!' End quote. You were miserable with and without me and I was miserable without you. There was no way you and I could get back together with so much…baggage…so I thought anyway, and so I wanted to end everything."

"That's so stupid of you!"

"I know. Ron rightly convinced me of that. After he got over you, of course. When he saw us happy together, he realised that he wouldn't have your love again and moved on. At least he could accept that. I couldn't."

"Shut up about that. Ron and I have been over for a long time. Apparently."

Draco nodded. "Yeah."

She shook her head. "These weird feelings I've been having about him are just memories of the feelings I used to have about him. It makes sense now. They were just feelings from the past." She took a deep breath. "Did you create those too?"

"I guess in order to erase the feelings you had for me, you needed strong feelings you'd had for someone previously to take over."

"But it didn't work very well. It just confused me," said Hermione slowly. "Subconsciously I knew that Ron and I were over." Draco nodded. She scoffed suddenly. "But how are you still living? Why didn't you just kill yourself?" she sneered.

Draco grimaced. "Pansy caught heed of it and tampered with my potion. I got terribly sick and broke out in green boils for six months."

She snickered and he glared.

"It was quite painful, thank you. But six months was enough time for all of them to convince me to keep my life and another year to get a job as an Auror. As hard as it was to be near you, I couldn't stay away from you. Part of your charm and my punishment."

Ignoring that last bit, she replied, "I'm sure our relationship was in the papers too."

"It was. A hell of a lot. But you know the head editor of _The Daily Prophet_ and Luna from _The Quibbler_. And then you threatened the head editor of 'Witch Weekly' with immense pain and bribed her with a _hell_ of a lot of money so she didn't breathe a word of our relationship ever again. I still don't know how much. And you told everyone to never mention our relationship ever again. And I mean _everyone._ Even my mother wouldn't talk to me about it when I needed her to. I broke her eventually, but the others wouldn't. Until recently, that is."

Hermione frowned. "So all of our meetings were planned?"

"Not by me, I swear. But I think Harry, Ron, and Ginny had a lot to do with it. That's what I meant by recently."

Hermione pursed her lips, at a loss of what to say. Everything was beginning to make sense. The constant badgering of Penelope and Luna, that line in _The Daily Prophet _about her and Draco, the strange coincidental meetings, the seemingly odd remark from her old neighbor, the open arms Harry, Ron, and Ginny had welcomed him with…this was all so, so strange.

She was confused, hurt, angry, terrified at what she'd lost; the emotions were relentless. He had to leave.

Draco looked at her then and hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Hermione, I'm so sorry about everything, but I—I still want to purse this relationship with you again." His Adam's apple was bobbing and his voice was thick.

"Draco I can't…I can't even think about that right now." Her voice was limp, impassive.

He swallowed. She closed her eyes and rubbed her eyes.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Just…just go."

"What? Hermione, I swear it won't be like again. You can trust me. I swear it."

She took a couple deep breaths. "Draco, please go."

She was scarier when she was calm and collected like this.

"Hermione—"

"Just go."

Draco stood stock still for a minute, staring at her defeated figure. He put a hand into his pocket then and pulled out a small, glittering object. He placed it onto her kitchen counter. And then he left.

Hermione buried her head in her hands, attempting to fathom everything.

_"Merry Christmas!" she exclaimed happily. She threw her arms around him. _

_"Why so happy?" he asked, a little startled at the onslaught. _

_"I love Christmas time! It's great. And I'm so glad you decided to come Christmas shopping with me. Decorating my parents' house is going to be so much easier this year. It's nicer to use magic at home even though I'm still in school." _

_"That's what you get for having an early birthday." _

_She smiled. "I'm going to Flourish & Blotts." _

_"I'll go with you. Don't want to battle this crowd alone." _

_She didn't say anything but took his arm. _

_They entered the bookshop and she led him to the history section. _

_"Mum wanted a book on some magical history. It might bore her, but she asked for it. I'll get Dad a mug like I do every year and a quill, maybe. They were really wary of magic at first but they're okay now. Even a little interested." _

_He tried a tight smile and she sighed. _

_"Why are you so stiff?" she asked. "Don't even think about everyone else. It's just two friends shopping around."_

_"They're all staring." _

_"We should be used to it. It's been a year already." _

_"Yeah, but…" _

_"Oh, come on." _

_He followed, watching her with guarded eyes as she piled books together. _

_They went out for a butterbeer break and then were at Madam Malkin's for robes. She gave them a coupon for a discount at her cousin's jewelry store where they went next. _

_"My cousins will love some necklaces. I'm sure your mum would like some kind of jewelry too." _

_"Yeah." _

_"Come on, lighten up! It's Christmas time!" _

_"I know, sorry." He tried to smile again and she kissed his cheek. _

_"Well, thanks for trying." She didn't notice his quick inhale as she turned away. _

_"Hello! Oh, look at that!" _

_"What?" _

_"My cousin is going to love that necklace! And my aunt too. I'll get them matching ones." _

_"Good. Let me find something my mum'll like." He went off by himself and she continued to browse. _

_They both purchased slightly costly items for their female family and friends and then they stopped at a little café in __London__ for coffee. _

_"Muggle places aren't too shabby, you know," he said. "This is probably my favourite café around here." _

_She smiled. "I like these hole-in-the-wall shops. It's like a secret present." She took a sip of her warm coffee and he gazed at her with affectionate eyes, smiling. "What?" she giggled, and he shrugged. _

_"Nothing." _

_"You're never going to guess what I got you," she said haughtily, and he smirked. _

_"Sure about that?" _

_"Yes. Undoubtedly so." _

_"Let me guess. A—"_

_"No! You can't guess. That ruins the fun of it!" _

_He chuckled. "You'll make me burn with curiosity?" _

_She smiled mysteriously. _

_"Fine. Then I guess I won't let you guess what your present is." _

_Her face dropped a little but she stayed impassive. "Okay." Her eye twitched a little and he laughed. _

_"I know you're dying to know." _

_"No, I'm not! Besides, I can wait till Christmas." _

_"Right. We'll see about that." He winked and she couldn't suppress her smile as she shook her head. _

_Christmas Day did, in fact, come, and she did manage to live without bugging him about it once. Her parents were sort of appalled by her eagerness to open her presents that year. _

_She, wanting his to be special, opened all of her other gifts first. By the time she was done, his little box was sitting right under the Christmas tree surrounded by brightly coloured paper. _

_"Who's that one from?" her mum asked. _

_"Don't you remember? He dropped it off earlier," her dad replied. _

_"Oh, right! Friendly boy, he is." _

_She smiled and unwrapped it quickly. It was a velvet box and she suddenly felt something grip her heart. She opened it slowly, almost expecting the gift underneath. Her mum nearly fell over. _

_"What does he mean, giving you that?" she exclaimed. _

_She ignored her mother as she stared at his gift with wide eyes. It was a promise ring, rather simple. It was a band that had two hoops on its ends that interlocked in the middle. Right where the hoops connected was a very small diamond imbedded in it that sparkled in the Christmas lights. _

_She pulled it out of its case and put it onto her ring finger. _

_"Are you two…dating?" _

_"No!" she exclaimed. "We're really good friends." _

_"I may be old but I'm pretty sure that really good friends don't give each other rings like that. Especially if they're different sexes," her father said sternly. _

_"Yeah," she replied absently. "We're just really good friends." The light caught on the diamond and it enchanted her. "The best." She couldn't contain her excitement. In another burst of passion she hopped up to her feet and vanished all the rubbish. _

_"Thanks Mum and Dad!" She kissed them and ran to her room to owl a certain someone._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, joke's over now, I guess. But how will this turn out? Will she forgive him? Is this the end of the story? Is Harry Potter going to save them all (again)? Stick around to find out! Unless it's the end of the story in which sticking around would do no good...but tell me how you'd like it to end! Or how you imagine it will end. Your reviews are appreciated! Love you guys!~**


	15. The Ring

"That's the ring he gave you for Christmas," she was saying, and Hermione was staring at it with sorrowful eyes.

"Why did he give me a ring? Were we dating then? I hate not knowing this!"

"No. He just really liked you and it was his subtle way of saying so. You, of course, saw that and kept telling me just how amazing it was that he waited a whole 'nother month to ask you out."

She shook her head. "I still can't believe this."

"If my stupid brother hadn't let it all spill we'd all be much happier right now," Ginny grumbled.

"Hey, she needed to know," defended Harry.

"Well, he could have done it a less traumatising way."

"I can't believe you'd keep this from me too!" Hermione exclaimed and they both turned to her.

"Well you asked for it," Harry pointed out. "Ron, Ginny and I knew you were unhappy without him and Draco was an absolute mess. Of course it wasn't easy, but we love you. We wanted you to be happy."

Hermione twirled the ring around, watching it sparkle.

"The stone is supposed to catch any light, no matter how dark it is, and it sparkles in it. Gives off the impression that it glows in the dark sometimes."

"What's the inscription say?" she asked, noticing the letters on the inner part of the silver band.

"Tu es mon lumière. You are my light."

Hermione sniffed. "Does everyone know French except for me too?" she asked weakly.

"No, Hermione. He told you who told us when he gave it to you. Of course, he wouldn't tell you till after he asked you out. You told me it was sort of an insult to your intelligence since you looked it up at the library the next day. You didn't tell him that of course." Ginny smiled fondly.

Hermione swallowed thickly. "Does he really love me?"

"Merlin yes. Harry and I could scarcely believe that you had dated him for so long till we saw it end. Draco's agony was really heartbreaking and yours too. You two are very good at torturing yourselves."

Hermione grimaced. "Yes, I noticed that."

"Do you—I mean, do you like him at all?" asked Harry tentatively.

"Yes, I do. I just can't believe that he'd ever do something like that to me. It's—"

"Yes, he was stupid. But maybe this taught both of you that you both had to grow up into yourselves before your relationship could go any further. He loves you desperately, Hermione. If you fancy him, build that trust again no matter how long it takes. Give it a chance."

"How did you all suddenly get onto his side?" Hermione asked bitterly.

"We care about him too," Ginny said softly, sounding an awful like her mother. "He's become our friend in the last year or so. It's funny that it was you giving us this 'give it a chance' talk just a couple years earlier." She smiled and squeezed her friend's hand.

Hermione pulled away and put her head in her hands. She sniffed. "I want to give him a chance, I really do; I just never want him to erase my memory again."

"_Believe_ me," Harry exclaimed. "I won't let it happen this time. I never want to keep anything that huge from my best friend ever again."

She was silent. "Did all of you know he was going to do this to me?"

Ginny bit her bottom lip. "Honestly, not all of us. I—I did see that recipe for the Selective Memory Potion on your desk before you gave it to him briefly, but I didn't think he'd actually carry it out. Ron had no clue till Pansy let us in on the secret, and she knew Draco well enough to at least keep him from killing himself. He tried to buy it without Pansy's knowledge from another apothecary but, you know, their circles run small. During the delivery, Pansy intercepted it, tampered with it, and sent it to him."

"Thank God for her."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "but you did threaten us never to mention his name to you ever again before he gave you the potion so that's another reason why we never mentioned Draco to you. I didn't even know that something was different until after Draco was taken to the hospital."

"How did you two find him?"

"Pansy again. She was very useful during this whole process."

Hermione put her head in her hands again. "Harry, Ginny—I don't know what to do!"

"Hermione—"

"Yes, I know you want me to get back together with him. But it's going to take a long time to gain my trust back."

"I'm sure he'll understand that completely."

Harry stood up and embraced his friend tightly. "Everything will be alright, don't you worry," he said soothingly.

"Thanks for listening you guys," Hermione sniffed. "But I still need to think it over."

"Take all the time you need."

All-the-time-you-need turned out to be one horrid week. Hermione tossed and turned every night, thought about it till she nearly made herself sick, turned paler and paler as the days went on, and had circles under her eyes. Then she owled him.

The knock on her door signaled his arrival and she opened the door to her flat to let him in.

"All right, Hermione?" he said.

"Hello Draco. Come in," she replied dully. He did so, looking concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"I…I wanted to apologise for ignoring you this whole time."

"No, don't be! Merlin knows I deserve it after all that happened."

Hermione shook her head.

"I'm really sorry, Hermione. I really am. I never should've given you that potion. I was rash, idiotic, and just plain…stupid. I wasn't thinking and I was all wrapped up in my grief and didn't think of how it would affect you."

"Yes, that's true…but I know I asked for it, so there's really no reason for _you_ to apologise."

He took her hand. "I'm so sorry. If you want I have a Pensieve you can use if you'd like. It's got my memories of our relationship in it."

Hermione nodded. "Draco, I've been thinking a lot about our…relationship." He could see the sparkle in her hand as she drew something out of her pocket. "And I wanted to give this back to you."

Draco's face fell as he took back the ring. "Oh."

"I'm not in a position where I can accept that."

"I understand."

"But it's your turn to convince me."

His ears perked up and his surprised grey eyes met hers. "What?"

"Do you really love me?"

"Hermione, I can't even express how much I love you. I'd give anything to be with you again. Anything."

"But it ended badly last time. What if history repeats itself yet again?"

"I can't promise anything, but I_ will_ try my hardest to make it different. I swear it."

She stared at the ground for a long time. "I don't know."

"I swear Hermione, even if it takes a lifetime to convince you. I—I'll even fight to be with you. No matter what it takes. Not even the Dark Lord coming back could change my mind."

"Careful what you say," Hermione said wryly.

"I swear it, Hermione. I mean it with all my heart." He took her hand again. "Please. Please believe me. I miss you so much. I can't—I can't bear a life without you." His voice was thick with emotion and Hermione could hardly look at him without wanting to cry.

"Draco, I—I still want to see the Pensieve. And I can't help it but I like you an awful lot. Even though our last relationship sounds like a horrible soap opera."

He pressed his lips together.

"I'll try my hardest too. In our relationship, I mean."

Hope filled his eyes and he nodded eagerly. "I'm a fast learner. Our last relationship ended because of a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication. We were too sarcastic and didn't tell each other everything. And I wasn't myself in the beginning, which I should've been. I just needed to mature, know how to present myself to a post-war world in which I was the baddie. But I know now, really, and I'll make sure to tell you absolutely everything this time." He kissed her hand.

"We'll see where it goes. And if it ends, it ends." She squeezed his hand, feeling her heart lift. It seemed impossible to keep herself on the floor when he was around. "But I thought you said you didn't believe in love?" she teased. She could feel herself brightening again now that her decision had been made.

"I don't believe I'll ever love anyone else but you. It's been almost a year and a half now and I'm still not over you."

"Keep that up." Hermione smiled.

He smiled back, encouraged by her reaction. "Will do. If you'll try it with me."

She paused for a moment, contemplating her decision. And then she nodded. "I will. It's hard to think of how terribly our relationship ended in the past. But I guess the past is the past. Even if it ends in the future." She smiled encouragingly. "For now let's just live in the present."

_It was September of 1999. Four months and a year after he had defeated You-Know-Who and the boy who lived wasn't going to live at school any longer. He and his best friend had decided to forgo school and take the opportunity offered to work at the Ministry. The third in their trio was not quite as enthusiastic to skip a whole year of school just to work early. So she stayed behind. _

_Classes were going to be held in a different location since Hogwarts was still undergoing major repair. There were many tents dotting the hillside where classes were as well as the offices of the professors. Several more tents had been put up around the castle and were big enough thanks to expanding charms to hold everyone in one house. It was also convenient that there weren't many students in attendance that year because of the fear of You-Know-Who suddenly coming back to life. The Death eaters themselves didn't make it any easier or safer to have children there. _

_The swotty girl didn't mind it, however, and was instead excited to finally be back for her last year of school. It didn't matter where she was, really, as long as she was back in that learning environment. She knew one didn't get to have such a life forever. _

_She was at Flourish & Blotts one rainy afternoon to pick up her school books. She rushed into the store and shook her soaking coat. She called herself a native of London and yet she didn't carry an umbrella around with her on cloudy, humid days. Maybe it was her excitement that kept her instinct from coming out. _

_Anyhow, she was there and that was what mattered, wet or not. She began to peruse through the books and smiled at their familiar titles. Spending one whole year and four months away from school had been tiring and yet it had been nice to spend so much time with her parents. She hadn't seen them for months prior and retrieving them from Australia had been mental and quite an unhappy ordeal. But that was over too and she tried not to think of it again. _

_The bell on the door rang as someone else entered and she ignored it when she found the Gilderoy Lockhart section. She remembered having such a schoolgirl crush on him in second year. Till she realised who he really was. She smiled. Such memories increased her affection for the wizarding world despite all the war she had just gone through. _

_Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she turned, the faint smile still on her face. Then it dropped. _

"_Uh, hello Granger. Long time no see," he said in a rush. He removed his hand from his black glove and held it out to shake hers. It took her a moment to realise what he was doing and shook the offered hand, still in shock. _

"_Hello, Malfoy." _

"_What brings you here?" he breathed. It sounded like he had run here or something. _

"_Um, shopping for school books. What are you doing here?" _

"_Same, except I'm not going back to school. I'm going to be tutored at home. I don't think, after a war like that, that I can really go back." _

_Reality was coming back to her and she frowned. "Why are you here talking to me, really?" _

"_Look, I—I just came to apologise for my behaviour back in school. And I didn't want to take part in that war by the end of it and it really opened my eyes to what was going on. I'm sorry for everything. I couldn't even go to the Memorial Ball because I was so ashamed of my actions." _

"_As you well should've been," she noted sternly. _

_He lowered his head in a very uncharacteristic gesture. "I'm sorry for your losses in the war, for everything. I never meant…well, I guess I meant it all at the time. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what happened to your friends, what happened to my friends, for what happened to London." _

"_You talk as if the whole war was your fault." She sighed. "It wasn't your fault. You might've joined _his_ side, but repenting for your actions is a step to forgiveness. Mine, anyway." She smiled. "And you seem genuine enough." _

"_I am, honestly I am." He looked at her earnestly and she nodded. _

"_I know. And I forgive you, not that I'm really one to be forgiving." They stood in a slightly awkward silence for a moment. Her eyes brightened and she smiled. "Well, since we're both looking for textbooks, why don't we go searching?" She felt awkward being so friendly to her childhood enemy, but stuck her hand out. "Can I see your book list?" _

"_Uh, sure," he stuttered slightly and handed it to her. She stared at it then compared it with hers. _

"_Looks like we're looking for nearly the same books. Come on. We'll find the Herbology books first. They're in the section closest to us." She smiled and he smiled back, unable to believe that she had been so forgiving. _

_It took a bit longer than she had anticipated and over an hour had been spent talking to him and getting to know him and his perspective on the war so much better. She had to continue to remind herself of who he still was, but by the end of the hour and a half, she could almost consider him a friend. _

_As they stood next to the door, their only shield to the rain, she sighed. "Well, I'll owl you during the school year, if you'd like." _

"_Yeah, sure." He smiled back, so different from his usual sneer. "I'll owl you back." _

"_Okay." She took off her jacket, ready to run through the rain with her purchases, when he stepped a little closer. _

"_Want me to walk you home? Or at least to wherever you're headed next? The rain's awful and I've got an umbrella." It was black, typical of him. _

_She smiled. She couldn't pass up such an offer. "Okay, yeah. I'd like that. I don't fancy getting wet a second time today." _

"_Good thing I'm here, then," he said and smiled and she followed him out, shielded by his umbrella. He escorted her to the Leaky Cauldron and, once inside, she turned and thanked him. _

"_I'll be good from here," she said. "Thanks again." _

"_You're welcome. I hope to see you again soon." _

_She nodded. "Maybe we can meet at the Three Broomsticks or something in between classes and homework and all." _

"_Do you know if you're going to be Head Girl yet?" _

"_No, not yet, but I expect it." _

_He chuckled. "I'm sure nearly everyone is going to be shocked if you're not. Even the professors. They'd be mental not to give it to you." _

_She smiled. "Thanks. Well, I should be off now. My parents are waiting for me." _

"_Yes, of course. I'll see you later." _

"_See you." _

_She waved goodbye and walked back out into the rain on the muggle street and thought of him all the way home. _

She pulled her head out of the Pensieve and sighed. There were so many points where she just wanted to strangle the idiots, but they had been so in love. Ginny put Hermione's Pensieve away and looked at the wedding ring on her finger. Maybe it was because Ron seemed destined to be unmarried all his life like Charlie that Ginny wasn't one hundred percent behind Draco and Hermione (like she wasn't one hundred percent behind dragons), but Draco seemed to fill the void, the little cracks that her brother hadn't been able to fill. And they were happy. Almost as happy as she and Harry were. She climbed down from the attic and closed it up along with a strong, imperceptible spell and went downstairs to the kitchen. The Pensieve's owner was there with a little smile on her face as she cooked an omelette. Her frizzy brown hair was pulled back in a plait and her wand was in her apron pocket. "Where have you been?"

"My room. Where's Draco?"

"Playing Wizard's Chess with Ron in the living room," Hermione replied. Gin didn't miss the sparkle in her eye. "Why're you giving me that look?" asked Hermione curiously.

Ginny continued smiling. "Nothing."

Hermione and Draco could break up a thousand times, threaten to leave each other five hundred times, erase their memories a hundred times, and still come back together by some miracle. It was inevitable. Almost as inevitable as the glaring fact that Draco and Hermione were something close to soul mates.

Just maybe.

_~fin_~

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><p><em>AN: I think I was postponing my post just because I didn't want this story to officially end. But now it has, and I sincerely hope the ending hasn't disappointed. It just seemed the best way. That way you know it's a happy ending after all. Sort of. :) And if you didn't catch it (no one probably did, but that's OK), I was inspired by the film _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. _If you haven't seen it yet, watch it! It's fantastic. Anywho, review and share your love (or hatred (hopefully there's no hatred)) and your thoughts. I always, always appreciate them. I love you all and thank you so much for sticking with this story till the end. That in itself is quite a feat. Au revoir, mes excellent lecteurs!_


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